The Conspiracy
by Aggie Escott
Summary: Something is wrong in the old frontier town in Arizona. Our boys go to investigate. Please review for me. Thank you.
1. Arrival

**The Conspiracy  
**Chapter 1  
Arrival

"_**Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized **__**conspiracy**__** to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.**__**" – Frederick Douglass**_

Hotch stood with his back to his desk and looked out onto the bullpen. All his agents were busy catching up on paperwork. Morgan he felt sorry for. Reid had been on leave, and so Morgan was having to do his own writing, something he wasn't used to. He smiled inwardly. Morgan had got Reid onto that on his first day, still wet behind the ears and eager to please. Now it had become a habit that both agents were content not to break.

Emily had her head down working on the last case. The team had been debriefed, and Hotch thought she was probably making notes to remind herself what could have been done, one of the best learning methods there was. Although not hand picked, as he preferred, she was a valuable member of the team.

Reid was conspicuous by his absence. He was not noisy himself, but he seemed to liven the room up when he was there, as if his mere presence was noisy.

Actually, Hotch was a little concerned about Reid. He had asked for leave to go and look up an old college friend that he hadn't heard from for years, who suddenly called him and asked him to go and stay with him. Reid didn't say why, and Hotch didn't ask. But since the second day, his cell had been switched off, and Hotch didn't like not being able to contact a team member, even if they were on leave.

He left his office and crossed the walkway to see Dave. He and Dave had become close during his so far brief addition to the team. Hotch thought they were friends by default. Neither of them liked to share their inner feelings with others, and neither found it easy to make friends. Hotch had served under Rossi, and their friendship sort of fell into place with neither of them having to make any kind of special effort.

He knocked on Dave's door and waited to be invited in. He began without preamble,

'I am worried about Reid.'

'He still not called in?' Dave said, looking up from his open laptop and waving towards a chair.

'No and his cell is still switched off. It's so unlike him.' Hotch sat down. 'Heaven knows he's entitled to take leave, and have his privacy, but I don't like being out of touch.'

'Hm yes. If something came up, you would need to get in touch quickly. When is he due back?'

'He has another week.' Hotch said, sitting right on the edge of his chair. 'I don't want to leave it that long though.'

'You want to go and check up on him?'

'Well yes, but I wanted your advice. He might not take kindly to being checked up on.' Hotch said. 'I'm not his Mum.'

'I can't see the harm in flying out to see. We don't have to interfere with what ever he's doing; just make sure everything is ok.'

'Yeah. And ask him to switch his phone on!'

-0-0-0-

Hotch told Morgan what he was going to do.

'Well I'm glad somebody other than me is concerned.' he had answered.

'Dave and I will both have our cells on. If anything comes up, we will be on the next flight back.' Hotch said. 'So you are running things until we get back.'

'No probs, Boss. See you in a few days.'

Morgan left Hotch's office, and Dave called the airline to book their seats.

'What do you know about where Reid has gone?'

'I looked up the town on the web. It's a frontier town in Arizona. From what Reid said, it hasn't come far in the last hundred years. A real backwater.'

'The more I think about it the more nervous I get.' Dave said. 'I don't like that we can't contact him.'

Hotch picked up his go bag, and Dave followed him out of the office. 'We'll take my car to the airport.' he said, heading for the lift. He glanced across his domain. Morgan was at Emily's desk, probably explaining where the boss was going. Todd was in her office shuffling requests, and Garcia was doing whatever it was she does. Everyone synchronised together.

Hotch had a good team.

Going down in the lift, Hotch again second guessed himself as to whether he was doing the right thing following Reid. He didn't know the name of the man he was looking up, nor did he know where he was staying. Would Reid be annoyed?

Hotch knew of the strong feelings Reid had for him, and he didn't want to give any wrong signals. But Reid knew well that Hotch liked everyone to be accessible at all times, and surely wouldn't turn his cell off. He sighed deeply.

'Are you ok, Aaron?' Dave asked as the lift juddered to a halt in the parking garage under the FBI building. 'Having second thoughts?'

'Not exactly. I need to find out what's happening.' Instinctively, Hotch felt that Reid was in some kind of trouble. 'I'm sure this is the right thing to do.'

He pointed his key fob at his car and opened the doors. Hotch threw his bag onto the back seat and got into the driver's seat. Dave put his bag beside Hotch's and sat next to him, and Hotch drove the car out into the Quantico traffic.

-0-0-0-

As they walked across the concourse to their flight, Hotch tried Reid one more time. He didn't expect an answer, and he quickly put his phone away and boarded the plane. They were in the air about an hour, and then they hired a car for the last hundred miles or so. Hotch wondered how Reid made the trip. It was a long and tiring trip and when they drove into the dusty streets of the little town, all either of them wanted was a shower and a sleep.

The hotel was an old clapboard building opening directly onto the street with a small dusty car park at the back. Hotch drove into a space and glanced around for another car that could be Reid's. If he was staying at the hotel, but there were no other cars in the car park, just an old pick up and a battered old ford.

'He's probably staying with his friend.' Dave said when Hotch voiced his disquiet. But as they walked round to the front, Dave too looked a little worried.

Walking into the bar, they almost expected cowboys to be sitting around the table and a spittoon by the door. It was like stepping back in time. Hotch ordered two beers and showed the bartender a picture of Reid.

'Nope, ain't seen him around here.'

'He was visiting a friend; about a week ago he would have arrived. I thought he would have stayed here.'

'No one like that has stayed here.' he said, a hint of annoyance in his voice. Hotch put the picture away.

'We would like a room please.' Dave said, trying to smooth things over. They hadn't travelled this far just to antagonise the locals. They could do that perfectly well in Quantico.

'Nope. All the rooms are taken. So you might as well get in your city car and get your city arses out of here.'

Hotch stepped back. All he wanted to do was punch the rude SOB on the nose, but he restrained himself and left it to Dave to get the room.

Dave pointed to a row of keys hanging behind him.

'One of them will suit us fine.'

The man slammed the key onto the desk.

'Top of the stairs, turn left. But you can only have it for one night, payment in advance, cash only.'

Dave took out his wallet calmly and paid him the exorbitant price for the room and wrote their names in the visitors' book. He clapped Hotch on the arm, and the two of them went up the stairs to their room.

It was a clean if Spartan room with a double bed. Hotch looked at it and said, 'I'll take the chair.'

'It's a big bed, Aaron. Have you seen the chair?'

Hotch briefly glanced at the chair, and decided to share the bed. There was no shower, but a small bath. Hotch turned the taps on and was pleased to find the water hot and clear. He unpacked his go bag and hung his suit and shirts in the wardrobe with Dave's things. There were no complementary shampoos or anything, so Hotch took his soap bag in the bathroom with him.

'Won't be long, and I'll run you one.' Hotch said, sinking down into the hot water.

Fifteen minutes later he felt better, clean and hair washed, he dressed in a clean pair of suit trousers and a short sleeved shirt.

'Ok, your turn!'

Hotch sat on the bed to figure out what to do next. They weren't welcome, that much was clear, but why? It was difficult to think with Dave singing his head off in the bath.

Maybe show Reid's picture around the town. It was late afternoon now. Perhaps check out the shops in the town. They might get a response. He thought Reid was quite memorable. People wouldn't easily forget him. If he had been here, a fact of which Hotch was certain, then someone would give him up sooner or later.

When Dave finally stopped singing and emerged from the bathroom, Hotch suggested they take a walk through the town. Dave attached his gun to his belt and Hotch picked up both of his.

There was a general store across the street, and this is where they headed first. There were two customers in the shop, but they both left as Hotch and Dave entered.

'Do you remember seeing this man in town over the last week? Hotch said, sliding the picture across the counter.

'I wondered when you would show up here.' the man said. 'I haven't seen him.

'I don't suppose you would mind looking at the picture before you decide.' Hotch picked up the picture and held it in front of the man's face. The man brought his hand down on the picture and looked Hotch in the eye.

'I said, I haven't seen him. Now if you don't want to buy anything, I have customers waiting.'

Hotch looked round at the empty shop but didn't say anything. He picked up the photo, and the two of them left.

'Well that went well, didn't it?' Dave said with a grin.

Hotch handed him the photo.

'Your turn.' he said.

-0-0-0-

'What the hell did you give them a room for?' hissed a man with a star pinned to his shirt.

'They just kinda took it.' the hotelier said, cringing slightly.

'Get that kid's name out of the book, and get rid of his stuff.'

'It's ok, his room is clear, and the page he signed I have already torn out.' he said. 'You've got his car.'

Another man was standing with them, looking scared. 'What the hell am I going to do with the kid? He's worked out everything!'

'You dealt with the other guy; can't you do the same with this one? Just shoot him and leave his body in the desert?'

'It's all very well you saying it!' he raised his voice.

'Not so loud! They are only just upstairs!'

'Sorry.' he said quietly this time. But it's ok you telling me to kill him, but the kid is a Fed.'

'So, what's the difference?' the sheriff said.

'The difference is I'll get caught, and I ain't going down for this. I ain't killing no Fed.'

'Well it might not come to that. He's only a kid. Just knock him about a bit and dump him in the desert.'

'Tonight?'

'You don't need to just yet. I might be able to get rid of those two upstairs.'

'I got to get home now. I told Muriel I'd only be a minute. But I ain't killing the Fed. If you want him dead, you do it.'

He left the group and walked out into the night air. He rued the day he got in with those two. He ended up doing all their dirty work, but he couldn't get out now. It would be his body being pecked by vultures in the desert. And with Muriel being sick and all........

'I suppose I'll have to kill him if it comes to that.' he thought. He sighed and began the half mile walk back home.


	2. The Book

**The Conspiracy  
**Chapter 2  
The Book

"_**Morality is nothing more than an expression of expediency" - Nietzche**_

Darkness.

Darkness and pain and cold.

Spencer curled up where the rough floor met the walls of his prison. The metal cuff around his ankle was cutting into his skin where he had tried to pull his foot through. They had taken his shoes.

On the first day he had crawled in an arc allowed by the chain, He had found a pit, he could only imagine how deep, but no other walls. It was as if he was chained at the dead end of a corridor, to a ring in the wall.

He had tried to dig out the ring; he tried until his fingers bled, but it was embedded deep in the wall.

The walls were wet, of this Spencer was glad because they had left him no water, and sometimes it felt like days without contact with his captors.

He had no idea how he got there. His last memory was walking back to the hotel, after another fruitless day looking for Andy. Then he woke up here.

Where ever 'here' was.......

It was deathly quiet in this hell hole. The sound of his heartbeat seemed to echo through the tunnel – for that was where he was, of that much he was certain. But a tunnel to where?

He thought it had been at least five days since he had been brought here. The only way to tell the time was by the sound of rats scuttling across the floor. That had happened four times, and he thought that if they came out at night, then he was in the fifth day.

He rolled onto his back and listened. The rats were moving about again. One ran across his manacled ankle and he yelped in fright. He curled back up again.

_Hotch, please come and find me........._

-0-0-0-

The next shop they tried was a few doors along. Dave took the photo from Aaron, and the two men entered. A bell tinkled as they opened the door, and the young woman behind the counter looked terrified for a moment before she regained her composure.

'I've not seen him.' she said, but her eyes said different. Hotch wandered around the store while Dave spoke to her.

'Are you sure, Miss? You see, I am certain that he came here, and yet no one seems to have seen him.'

'You must have the wrong town.' she said, with a shaky smile. Dave smiled warmly back.

'If you remember anything, we are at the hotel over the way.' he said gently. 'Please come and see us if you think of anything.'

'I will.' she said.

She turned from him and went out into the back of the shop. Hotch watched her go.

'She knows something.' he said.

'I think she does, but she's scared of something.' Dave said as they left the shop.

'Or someone.' They walked in silence back towards the hotel. As they crossed the lobby, Hotch went to the desk and turned the register around, and began to flick back through the pages.

'Hey! That's private!' The hotelier snatched the book from Hotch and locked it in the desk drawer.

Hotch didn't say anything but he went to join Dave at the foot of the stairs.

'I want to take a look at that book later on tonight.' he whispered to Dave. Dave nodded and they went up the stairs to their room.

'I'm sure Reid was here.' Hotch said. 'He's in trouble, and it seems like the whole town knows about it.'

'And you're right. We need to get a look at that register. We can go down tonight after the doors close.'

Hotch looked at his watch. 'We could sit in the bar tonight and try and pick up any gossip.'

'Good idea, if anyone will talk to us.' Dave grinned. 'I have my doubts!'

The bar was anything but lively. The men sat around tables playing cards and a huge TV screen showed the sports channel, although no one seemed to be watching it. Dave and Aaron sat at the bar and watched the sports, waiting for an opportunity to engage the locals.

'Any golf on?' Aaron asked the barman, the same man here did everything it seemed.

His reply was a scowl, and Aaron guessed that the conversation was over. He took the photo out of his pocket and went over to the guys playing cards.

'Excuse me,' Hotch began politely. 'Do any of you remember seeing this man around town in the last week?'

The men ignored Hotch, who put the photo in the middle of the table.

'He's very memorable.'

'We've not seen him.' One of the men looked away from his cards and looked up at Hotch. 'When are you gonna stop poking your nose into our business? Just get out of town before you regret ever coming here.'

'And why would I ever regret coming to your friendly little town.' Hotch snatched the photo off the table and returned to Dave who was watching from the bar.

'I'm going for a walk, Dave. You coming?'

'I won't Aaron.' he said. 'I need to get some sleep.'

Aaron inclined his head to his friend and left the bar. Dave drank the last of his beer, and said good night to the barman.'

'Think I'll turn in.' he smiled. 'It was a tiring journey.'

'And what a shame, since it was for nothing.'

Dave went back to his room. He didn't change. They had work to do in the night.

-0-0-0-

Hotch just wanted to walk off the bad humour that he was feeling. He was glad he didn't come alone to look for Reid. It was like a bad movie, and if Dave hadn't been there, no one would believe it. It was so obvious that the people were hiding something. What the hell had Reid got himself into? Let him out of his sight for a minute, and he gets into trouble! Where on Earth was he?

His thoughts ended there, when he heard someone behind him.

'We asked you nicely to leave town.' the sheriff said, 'And look, you're still here.'

The sheriff was pointing his gun at Hotch.

'I guess it's time to show you that we mean it.' He stepped back. 'Ok, boys, show him.'

First Hotch's guns were removed, then two men held his arms while another hit him hard in the mouth. His neck cracked as his head was knocked sideways. Hotch twisted himself out of the men's grip and turned to face his attackers. One stepped forward, and the light from a nearby window glinted off the knife he was holding.

Hotch looked to the Sheriff. Surely this was illegal. But all the Sheriff did was move his gun towards him again.

Hotch bent his knees and put his hands out, palms forward, and began to circle the man with the knife. The first lunge and Hotch caught his arm and twisted the knife from his grip. The other two men attacked. A punch to the stomach, and he doubled over, trying not to vomit. The second was a knee to the groin, and this time he went down. At the edge of his vision, he saw someone pick up the knife.

'Don't kill him.' he heard a voice say. He thought the Sheriff, but he was hurting too much to think straight. He got onto his hands and knees, and tried to stand. A kick in the throat and Hotch sprawled onto his back. He coughed and his hands went to his neck. He tried to turn over to get up, but someone kicked his hands from under him. He collapsed onto his side.

'Now we are sorry to have had to do that, but we asked nicely. Now', the Sheriff said, 'will you leave?'

Hotch heard the retreating footsteps. When it all became quiet, he forced himself onto his hands and knees again, and using the wall for support, he managed to stand.

Bent forwards, he staggered along the street back to the hotel. He made it as far as the steps to the door before he fainted.

-0-0-0-

An hour later and Dave was getting worried. A town this small, he could have walked every street by now and still have time left! He decided to go and look for him, and vowed they wouldn't split up again. They already had one missing agent.

He crossed the deserted lobby, and opened the door onto the street.

'Oh no! Aaron!'

Dave knelt by the prone figure of his friend and felt for a pulse. His vital signs were all ok. He turned Hotch onto his back.

'Aaron, help me get you back to our room.'

Hotch's eyes fluttered open. Dave helped him get up, and half carried him back across the lobby to the stairs.

'Nearly there, Aaron, just up the stairs.'

Hotch slowly took the stairs, and Dave opened the door. He led Hotch to the bed and Laid him down.

'What the hell happened? Who did this?'

'The sheriff and three others.' he said hoarsely. 'They took my guns. I think I'm going to be sick.'

Hotch stood up with Dave's help again and staggered to the bathroom. He threw up in the toilet, clutching his abdomen. His groin hurt, sending pain in tsunami waves through his body. His throat felt bruised, and his lip was split. He sat by the toilet and rested his head on bent knees.

'I guess they want us to leave.' Dave said.

'Well we're not going to.' whispered Hotch. 'Whatever Reid got into, he's in trouble, and we are going to find him.'

Dave took him back to the bed and got a face cloth from the bathroom, and gently washed the blood off Aaron's face and neck. There was a shoe print bruise on the front of his throat where he had been kicked, and Dave was concerned about damage that had been caused.

'Can you swallow ok?' he asked. Aaron nodded.

'I'm ok, really.' His voice was thick and talking was painful. 'We need to take a look at the register if there's no one down there.'

Dave nodded 'I'll go. You stay here.'

And with his gun in his hand he went out of the room and down the stairs. It was dark in the lobby, and he used a pen torch to see his way to the desk. The register was locked in the drawer, but it was easy to pick the lock. He drew out the book and put it on the desk.

He put the gun on the table and held the torch as he turned back the pages to a week ago.

He ran his finger down the names, but Reid wasn't there. He was about to close the book when he noticed a shred of paper in the fold of the pages, as if a page had been torn out.

He closed the book and returned it to the drawer. He was about to leave when he noticed something familiar under the desk. He pulled it out, and grabbing his gun, he ran back up to the room.

He locked the door behind him and showed what he had found to Aaron.

Reid's messenger bag.

-0-0-0-

A tiny light.

Reid screwed up his eyes against the light and looked away.

'Two men have come to town looking for you. A big man with black hair and an older one with a beard. You had better hope they leave town soon, or you will all die.'

The light went, but Reid's retina retained the image. He rubbed his eyes.

Hotch and Rossi!

Hotch and Rossi had come to look for him. He knew they would. As soon as they smashed his phone he knew they would come.

His stomach was growling for food, but once again, they hadn't brought him any. He wondered if the plan was to starve him to death.

He crawled in the direction that he had seen the light, but he came to the drop at the extent of the chain.

So the drop was between him and the way out. Not that that helped at all. He was well and truly chained and he could move about ten feet in one direction.

He went back to his cold miserable corner.

_Be careful Aaron, Dave, these people will stop at nothing......._


	3. Day Two

**The Conspiracy  
**Chapter 3  
Day Two

"_**Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains." - Jean-Jacques Rousseau**_

Reid hadn't moved for several hours. He was weak and tired. He wanted to sleep, but he was cold and wet. He had tried again to get his foot through the chain, but he knew before he started that it would be a waste of time.

His ankle was wet and sticky with blood, and his fingers hurt too. He wanted to do something, but he had no chance of escaping.

He was hungry, it had been over a week since he had been there, and he hadn't eaten anything, and the only water was that running down the walls of his prison. He had long ago concluded that they meant to starve him to death. He was light headed and in pain with hunger, and he thought that their goal would be achieved in a short time now.

-0-0-0-

'He's definitely been here then.' Aaron said, propping himself up on the bed on his elbows.

'There's no doubt now.' Dave agreed, looking inside the bag. 'It's empty.

'We need to call the others in on this one.' Hotch said, getting his phone out of his pocket. He called Morgan, who answered on the first ring.

'Hey boss, I was going to call you. We have a job on.'

Hotch said, 'I was hoping that the team could come out here. But if you have a case, would you lead the team until we have finished up here?'

'Will do, Hotch. This seems like a straight forward case, I should be able to manage with Emily.'

'Ok, Morgan, keep in touch.' Hotch snapped his phone closed. 'We're on our own, Dave. They have a case on.'

'I gathered that from your side of the conversation.' Dave replied. 'Now we really need to find out what ever Reid and his college friend found. And I think the best place to start would be at the sheriff's place.'

Aaron swung his legs off the bed. He winced as he put his feet on the floor

'Are you up to it, Aaron?' Dave asked. 'You took quite a beating back there.'

'I need to do this.' he replied. 'If Reid needs help, then I need to be there.' He tried to stand, and Dave could see the pain in Aaron's face.

Dave put out his hand to help Hotch up, but Hotch refused the help, determined that he should do this alone for Reid. He was in no state to take on any fight, but Dave had his gun, and he trusted him completely. He touched his lip with the back of his hand, and was pleased to see that the bleeding had stopped.

Together the two men crept down the stairs again, this time, to go out into the street. It was very dark out on the street; there was no moon, and no street lighting to mention. Dave had his flash light, which he shone ahead of them.

The street was utterly deserted. Normally there would be the odd car, or a late night reveller returning home, but there was no one.

The sheriff's house was at the far end of the street, adjoining the sheriff's office. Hotch and Rossi quickly turned into the narrow side street that ran along side the house. There were lights on in the downstairs rooms, but the curtains were drawn. They stood with their backs to the wall on either side of the window and listened. It was difficult to hear everything that was said, but the voice of the sheriff was recognisable, but none of the others, of which Hotch counted five. The voices were raised, in anger it seemed. some one mentioned the cargo, but what the cargo was was lost to them.

Dave and Hotch left the window and crept around to the back of the house. There was a garage separate from the rest of the building. The doors were closed with a heavy padlock, but there were windows in the doors. Dave shone his flash light through the window.

'Hey, Aaron. Take a look at this.'

Aaron stood beside him and looked through the window. The car in the garage was the same make and model as their own hire car. Even the colour was the same.

'What are the chances of our law abiding sheriff driving the same car as ours?' Dave asked.

'I think we have found Reid's hire car.' Aaron said.

They crouched down in the darkness.

'I don't think we are going to find anything else here. Tomorrow I'll have a chat with the woman in the store. But now I think we ought to get some sleep.'

The two profilers crept round to the front of the house and watched as four men left by the side door where they thought they would be unobserved. Hotch recognised three of them. They stood at the door talking in low tones while Hotch and Rossi crouched in the undergrowth. Again the word 'cargo' was mentioned.

When they had gone their separate ways, Rossi and Hotch crept to the end of the drive and walked back up the road towards the hotel.

'"Cargo" could mean anything.' Hotch said. 'Drugs, weapons, people.......'

'This is what Reid's friend stumbled onto.'

Neither spoke for a minute or two. Both were thinking the same thing. The chances were that they were both dead. Aaron felt a knot in his stomach thinking of it.

When they were back in their hotel room, Dave ran a bath.

You go first, Aaron. It will help you to relax.'

Aaron hadn't mentioned that he was still in pain from the beating, but he and Rossi were close enough for that kind of thing to be noticeable. Hotch nodded gratefully, and took his things into the bathroom.

The water was hot and it felt good. He was shocked to see the bruises on his throat and body. He took a breath and immersed himself in the hot water and enjoyed the feeling of the water massaging his muscles. He stayed in relaxing until the water felt cold, and he ran a bath for Dave as he dried himself. Fresh clean pj's, and he went back into the bedroom. Dave was sitting up on the bed with his eyes closed.

'Your turn, Dave.'

Hotch laid down on the bed and closed his eyes. He was asleep before Dave came out.

-0-0-0-

'Good morning, City boys. You come to check out?'

'No actually. Aaron said. 'I had a bit of an accident last night and I'm really not well enough to travel, so we will be staying for now, another night at least.'

Hotch put some cash on the counter, and followed Dave to the door. He could feel the hotelier's eyes boring into his back as they left the hotel to visit the woman in the shop across the road.

There were no customers in the store, but then Hotch didn't expect that there would be. She sold dress fabric and children's clothes, and he didn't think that there would be much of a demand in such a small town. He wondered how she could afford to live.

Unless she had another source of income........

'Can I help you Sirs.' she broke his reverie nervously.

'I half expected you to come and visit us.' Dave said.

'If I had anything to tell you, and I don't.'

Again, Hotch stood back and let the older profiler talk to her. He saw her face flush as she lied to Dave.

'A very good friend of ours in missing.' Dave said. 'All we want to do is find him and take him home.'

She leaned forwards so that their faces were close.

'Go south towards the border.' she whispered. Then louder, 'Now either buy something or leave.'

'I'll take these.' Hotch said, placing a little pair of camouflage fleece trousers on the counter.

He paid for them, all the while watching her face, and they left the store.

As the door closed, the woman began to cry and a man came out from the back.

'You did good, Lisa. We'll get them now.'

'I didn't want any part of killing. It's dirty money and I don't want it any more. And I don't want you either. Please leave my store.'

'Uh... sorry? Whose store? I think you'll find it is my store.'

He got hold of her around the waist and tried to kiss her, but she turned her head.

'Just don't hurt them.'

He pushed her away and followed the profilers out of the store.

-0-0-0-

Hotch and Rossi went across to the hotel and collected their car.

'Do you trust her? Hotch asked, putting his purchase on the back seat.

'Not entirely. I think she was under duress.'

'Remember I'm not armed.' Hotch said. Dave patted his jacket where his gun was on his belt.

There was no road going south, and they had to drive cross country through the dry desert. They were about a mile outside town when they noticed that they were being followed by three cars.

Hotch sped up, but there was really no where to go. After a few minutes, the flat terrain fell away and he pulled the car up a few feet from the cliff edge. The two men didn't say anything, but they got out of the car. Dave crossed behind the car to stand beside Aaron. The three cars stopped in an arc, and five men got out, all armed with shotguns, or Hotch noticed, his guns that had been taken from him.

Dave had his gun in his hand, but he held it up by the trigger guard, and dropped it on the dusty ground.

The five men didn't say anything. The man with Hotch's gun raised it and pointed it at Rossi.

'Now you are out of town, stay out.'

'We can't.' Dave said. 'We need to find our friend.'

'We told you, he was never here.'

'But we....'

That was as far as he got. A shot rang out and Dave clutched at his chest. A splash of blood hit Aaron's face as Dave staggered backwards and fell over the edge of the cliff.

'Dave!' Hotch shouted, and turned to the cliff edge. Dave was lying on his back some fifty feet below. Even from where he was, Hotch could see the blossom of red on his chest. Dave wasn't moving.

Hotch ignored the five men, and looked for a way to climb down to him.

'I'm coming down, Dave. Hold on.'

He turned back to the men. 'What the hell have you done? You have killed an FBI Agent!'

He looked again, desperately trying to find a way down, when he felt hands on his upper arms, and he was dragged away from the edge.

'Don't want you to fall.' one of them said sarcastically.

Hotch once again found himself outnumbered. He struggled against them as he was pulled away from where Dave was lying, and they set upon him again. This time they didn't stop when he went down. With blood flowing from his mouth and nose, he tried to crawl away from their pounding feet. He felt ribs crack and someone stood on his hand and ground his fingers into the dust. Someone grabbed his hair and punched his already blood drenched face. His eyes closed and he lost consciousness.

Then they stopped hitting him.

They dragged him to the back of one of the cars and opened the trunk. There was a sheet of plastic there already waiting, and they dumped Hotch onto the sheet and closed the lid.

'Ok, You', the Sheriff indicated one of the men. 'Drive the car over the edge. It will look like an accident.'

'But they will know it's not, when they find the gun shot.'

'They won't find anything by the time the vultures have had their fill. Now do as you're told.'

Obediently, the man started the engine of Hotch and Dave's car, and let it drive over the edge. Then they got back into their cars and two of them started back towards town. The other, the one with Aaron in the back, drove east.


	4. Chita

**The Conspiracy  
**Chapter 4  
Chita

_**If our American way of life fails the child, it fails us all. ~Pearl S. Buck**_

Reid was woken by the sounds of chains clanking, and a light that filtered through his closed eye lids. He opened his eyes a slit so that the light wouldn't burn his unadapted eyes. He saw the shadows of men carrying something.

'Please, I need something to eat!' he called out to them in desperation.

The voice that he had heard before said they had left him food. This time they threw it to him – half a loaf of bread.

'We have left you bread before, but you need to look for it.'

Reid wasn't listening – he was biting into the bread and a feeling of gratitude came over him.

'Thank you.... thank you...' he called to the men who were holding him prisoner.

It wasn't until he had eaten the bread that he thought to check on what he had been brought. Was it something for him?

He crawled over the rough hewn floor to inspect what had been left. It was dark again, and he couldn't see, but he reached out with his hands and felt for what ever it was. He touched something in the dark and drew back his hand. It was another prisoner like himself.

He felt along the body of the man and suddenly realised as he felt the man's face that it was Hotch who was lying in front of him.

'Aaron!' Reid gasped, and turned the man onto his back and cradled his head. He felt blood in his hair, and as he gently ran his hands across his face he realised that he had been beaten. 'Oh god, Hotch, are you alive?'

Gently, tenderly, he stroked the man's face. 'Wake up, Aaron, please...'

-0-0-0-

The elderly Mexican woman looked down on the injured man on her bed. She thought that he had been shot, but she was no expert on gun shot wounds. Her son had found him by the cliff, burning in the hot sun. He was now lying still and silent on her bed. She had cleaned his wounds, and made him comfortable, but he had lost blood, and she was afraid of him dying there in her bedroom. She checked that the wound was not bleeding, and spoke to him gently.

'Sir, can you wake up?'

She was pleased when the stranger's eyes flickered and opened to reveal soft brown eyes.

'Hello, my name is Chita. You are in my home.'

The man on her bed was trying to speak to her. She lowered her head so that she could hear him.

'Aaron....' he whispered, then his eyes closed and he slept again.

Chita called her son.

'Was there anyone else there where you found this man? He's asking for a friend'

'There was another but he was taken by the townsmen.' he answered. 'I was too late to help him.'

'The men in the town are ungodly child thieves.' Chita said. 'The man is asking for him, but he will probably be killed now. We have to save this man's life.'

-0-0-0-

Aaron recognised Reid's voice, and reached out a bloody hand to him. Reid took it, and Aaron cried out as broken bones ground together.

'Spencer.' he gasped, 'Is it you?'

'I'm here, Aaron.' he said, stroking his hair.

'Dave's dead.' he said, tears for his friend rolling down dirty cheeks. 'They shot him.'

'Dead?' Reid could hardly believe it.

'They shot Dave out of town. Reid, do you know where we are? Can we escape?'

'Just a minute.' Reid went to Hotch's feet. Like himself, they had taken Aaron's shoes, and there was a cuff locked to his ankle. The chain went to the same loop that held his own chain. He went back to Hotch.

'There's no chance of escaping.' Reid said. Hotch tried to stand.

'I can't believe they shot Dave. He had dropped his gun, he was no threat.'

He wiped the tears off his face. They stung the grazed broken skin of his face from the beating. He knew his ribs were broken, and his fingers of one hand wouldn't bend, so he thought that his hand was broken too. He hurt all over, but he still had the strength to try to escape. He walked unsteadily to the loop in the wall and tried pulling it.

'This is a mine shaft, Reid.' he said, feeling the walls. The loop was for carrying weight. They would not get out like that.

'Do the others know?' Reid said hopefully.

'They are on a case.' he said. 'But Morgan knows something is wrong. He'll be out here as soon as he can.' He thought about Dave again, and his stomach lurched. It was hard to believe that his friend was gone.

'How often do they come down here?' Aaron asked.

'They don't.' Reid said. 'They throw me bread, but I can't find it. I think they must come while I sleep. Although I don't sleep very much.'

Aaron was frustrated and angry at being tricked by the woman in the shop. He didn't blame her really. She was probably under threat too. He thought she liked Dave and then she sent them into an ambush. She must have known.

'There was a woman in town led us into a trap.' Aaron said. 'We were trying to find out what had happened to you and why. What did you find out, Spencer? How bad is it that they have killed an FBI agent, and imprisoned two more?'

'They killed Andy too.' Reid said. 'I don't think they realised that he had called for help. I think they dumped his body over the border in Mexico in the desert.'

'Do you know what's going on, Spencer?'

'It's children. they are stealing Mexican children and selling them to the highest bidder.' he said. 'At first they were buying them from poor families, and then they found it was more economical to just take them.'

'Child trafficking.' Hotch said shivering. They sat closer together to keep warm. 'With Dave dead and us here, I hope Morgan gets here soon.'

-0-0-0-

The injured man in Chita's bed slept all night and most of the next day. This time when he woke up, he felt a little better. He tried to move, and thought better of it as a pain shot through his chest. He sank back into his bed with a groan. Chita was there in a shot.

'Hello.' she said, smiling at the stranger in her bed. 'How are you feeling?'

'I've felt better.' He groaned, squeezing his eyes closed. 'Where am I?'

'You are over the border in Mexico. Ana my son brought you home. He found you by the cliff.' She fluffed his pillows. 'We thought you might die.'

'Me too.' the man said. 'Who are you?'

'My name is Chita. Ana is outside working. Do you remember your name?'

'David. David Rossi.' He answered. 'I'm with the FBI. Do you have a phone?'

'I am sorry, Mr. Rossi. We don't have a phone.' she said, looking a little scared. 'The FBI? What is the FBI doing out here?'

'There is something going on in the town. I came with my colleague to find out what.'

'Is it the children?'

'Children?'

Dave struggled to a sitting position. Chita tried to make him lie still, but he refused.

'Was there another man with me when your son found me?' he asked.

'I will get Ana to tell you.'

She ran out of the room and Dave heard her call her son. A minute later, the young man was in the room.

'There was another man with you, a big man with black hair, but the townsmen took him away. I don't know where to.'

'Please, you have to show me.' Dave said. He pushed the woven blanket off himself and painfully swung his legs off the bed. Chita put her hand out.

'Tell me about the children.' Dave said.

'You must stay in bed. You are not strong enough Mr Rossi.'

Dave accepted her help and took a step towards the door, when the world spun round and he fell forwards in a faint.

Chita and Ana lifted him back onto the bed again, and covered him up.

'He's too ill to go anywhere yet.' Chita said to Ana. 'Go up there and see what you can find. He might be able to help us with the children.'

Ana nodded and left the house. He wouldn't go to the town, but he drove in his beaten up old pick up back to the bluff where he had found David dying in the sun. The car was still there, at the bottom of the bluff, and a bloody patch on the rocks where he had found Dave, but there was no sign of the other man. He climbed the bluff, and having checked that the townsmen were not there, he started to look around.

There were signs of a struggle on the dusty ground, and what looked like blood. He stooped down and touched the stain. It was surely blood, and a lot of it too. He saw that two of the cars had headed back to town, but the other one had driven east along the border. There was more blood where the car had been, as if the other man had been put in the car.

Ana decided to follow the track and see if he could find the other man. He made his way back down the bluff again and got in his pick up and drove the long way round to the top. He drove slowly across the rough terrain, following the plain tracks of the car that carried the other man.

He drove for a mile or two when the wind came up, blowing strong, the sand and dust lifting from the ground like a rough blanket. Ana knew better than to try to drive in it, so he stopped his truck and closed the windows and waited. It didn't last long, but it was enough to cover the tracks of the car he was following.

He sighed heavily. He really wanted to help the Fed, especially if he could find out what happened to the children, his own little sister included. But it looked as if he wasn't going to be a whole lot of help after all. He turned the pick up around and drove back home.

-0-0-0-

Aaron and Spencer sat close together at the end of the short tunnel. Reid was feeling a little better now he had had something to eat, but Hotch was shaking uncontrollably. He was wet through now and in a lot of pain. Reid tentatively put his arm around Aaron's shoulder and Aaron accepted the gesture. He leaned into Reid and tried to absorb warmth from him. Reid put his other arm around him and drew him close. There was nothing else he could do for him. It was dirty, wet, cold and pitch black in the hell hole, and they were both at a loss. All they could do was hope that Morgan would finish up his case soon and come down and find them.

Reid was finding it hard to come to terms with the death of Rossi. He couldn't quite believe it, but Aaron had cried for his friend, and Reid had cried in sympathy. Hotch had lost colleagues before, but in the heat of a case there was no time to mourn or cry. Here there was nothing else to do other than think of what might have happened if he had done things differently. He kept the thoughts to himself. Even in his beaten injured state, he was still the team leader, and he was there to find and rescue his colleague. The thought that he was there, chained up and helpless, just made him angry. He tugged uselessly at the chain.

Reid tightened his arms around him, Aaron rested his head on Reid's shoulder and cried again for Dave.


	5. Day Three

**The Conspiracy  
**Chapter 5  
Day Three

_**John Philpot Curran said: "Assassinate me you may; intimidate me you cannot." **_

Dave slept for the rest of the day and into the next night. Chita watched over him, and prayed over him. If this man was with the FBI, maybe he would be able to get the children back.

Early in the morning of the third day, David began to stir in his sleep. Chita had changed the dressing on his wound while he slept, and now there was no blood showing. She watched him as his soft brown eyes fluttered open. He blinked and looked at her.

'How long?.....'

'This is day three.' Chita answered with a gentle smile. 'Would you like some water?'

Dave nodded, and she reached for a glass that was by the bed. She lifted Dave's head and held the glass to his lips. He drank gratefully.

'I really need a phone, Chita, or if that's not possible, would your son be able to make a call for me.' he said. 'Two of my friends are in serious danger, and I must call for help.'

'We do not have a phone, but there is one in the village. Ana will go for you.'

She went to the door and called Ana who was asleep on the couch, his Mum having his bed.

'Ana, Mr Rossi needs you to make a phone call for him.'

Ana pulled on his jeans and went to Dave's side.

'Should I write it down, or will you remember?' Dave asked, not wanting to take for granted that the young man could read.

'Please, write it down. I don't want to make any mistakes.'

Dave wrote down Morgan's cell number, and a message that he should come to him urgently. He said that he had been injured and Hotch was missing. He asked Chita to write down their address, and he passed the paper to Ana.

'Please, where are my things?' he asked Chita, who passed him his wallet and ID. He took some money from his wallet and gave it to Ana.

'Please, Ana, make the call as soon as you can. I am worried about my friends, and Morgan will come and help me to find them.'

'I followed the trail from the cliff.' Ana said. 'There was a sand storm, and the tracks were covered, but I know the direction they took with your friend.'

Dave managed a smile. 'That's great, Ana.' he said.

'I'll go and make the call now.' he said, smiling back.

Ana left the bedroom, and seconds later Dave heard the sound of the old truck starting outside. He needed Morgan and Prentiss out here as soon as possible. Chita sat on a chair at the foot of the bed.

'Tell me about the children.' Dave said.

'It started three years ago.' Chita began. 'The men of the town offered to take the children of poor families and have them adopted by wealthy American couples. They paid money to the families as compensation. We all knew that it was wrong, but it was a way to a better life for our little ones. After a few families sold their children, one mother wanted her child back, and the Sheriff said it was too late. We couldn't go to the police because we were doing wrong. It was awful.'

Dave saw that there were tears in Chita's eyes.

'It was your child, wasn't it? You wanted her back?'

Chita nodded, unable to speak now the tears had started.

'How long ago did you lose your child?' Dave asked.

There was a long pause before she spoke as she gathered herself again. 'It's been two years since we lost Connie.' she sobbed. 'After that, no one was willing to let their children go, but still children went missing.' Chita stood up and started to pace slowly. 'We have no proof that it is the sheriff and his men taking them, but it seems a coincidence otherwise.'

'I don't believe in coincidences.' Dave said, 'When Morgan gets here, we will see what's going on.'

Dave was still in a lot of pain as he made the effort to get out of the bed. Chita gently pushed him back down again.

'Please, don't try to get up, Sir. You need more time.'

Dave knew she was right, and he lay back down, exhausted. He fell asleep almost straight away thinking of Ana, and whether he would make it into town. He knew he was putting these people in danger by being here, and if they shot him to kill, how would they feel about killing this little family. He needed to make sure that they didn't tell people that he was here.........

-0-0-0-

'Just shoot them where they are, and leave their bodies in the mine shaft. No one will ever find them, and if they do there will be nothing left to identify. There are thousands of rats down there.' The sheriff was pacing. He knew that the work was on hold while they dealt with the Fed issue, but it was the money from the kids that kept the town, and they couldn't hold off for long.

'I'm not killing them. Let Ben do it. He killed the other one, and the kid that started all this.'

'Ben is not going to do anything. Killing the Fed there was stupid and unnecessary. There could have been witnesses. He is a trigger happy moron. Ben is out of the picture.'

Arn sighed. He didn't want to kill, he didn't join the Pack to assassinate unarmed men. But to keep the scam going, something needed to be done.

'Can't we just leave them there? They'll soon die down there if we don't feed them.'

'So you are happy about starving them to death, but not shooting them?'

'I'm not happy about any of this, Phil. I just want the problem dealt with and finished.'

'So shoot them.'

'Ok ok, I'll do it.' Arn picked up his shot gun. 'I may as well get this over with.'

-0-0-0-

Morgan was surprised when his cell rang. He had been trying to contact Hotch ever since they boarded the jet, but his phone was either out of service which was unlikely, or turned off, which was more unlikely.

This was an unknown number. He allowed the call.

'Morgan.'

'I am calling for Mr David Rossi. He needs your help.'

Morgan listened to the man who introduced himself as Ana Rigez, and as soon as the conversation was over, he told Prentiss what had happened.

'I am going to get the jet to go to the nearest airport to the address.' he said. 'We need to get to Rossi sooner rather than later.

Minutes later the jet had changed course, and Morgan called ahead to book a car. Emily called Garcia and JJ.

'We are heading out there now.' she said. 'What ever is going down, it needs the team on it.'

'I'll do some preliminary checks on the area.' Garcia said. 'You never know what I can find.'

'I'll contact the Mexican police about the missing children. I'll get ages and descriptions.'

'Check out the town sheriff too, JJ and see how long he's been in charge down there.'

'Good idea, Emily.' JJ said. 'I'm on it.'

-0-0-0-

Arn threw his shotgun into the back of the car. He really didn't want to do this, shoot unarmed chained up men, but if he didn't they would starve to death, and the money would stop coming in. His knuckles were white on the wheel as he drove through the desert towards the old abandoned mine. He tried to psych himself up for the deed, but he felt sick with the thought of killing the two men.

'I've got no choice!' he said aloud as the car bounced over the terrain.

He could let them go and throw himself on their mercy. He wondered how Sally his wife would manage the store if he went to prison. He couldn't do that to her.

'I've got no choice!' he shouted. He always told himself that there was no such thing as easy money, and this was the proof. He would shoot them, the alternative was horrible – starving to death in that black hole. Killing them would be an act of mercy.

He drew his car up alongside the unmarked mine head, and reached over for his gun.

'I'm sorry, guys, but I have got no choice!' he loaded his gun and took a flashlight from the glove box. He crossed to the shaft, and lowered himself onto the top rung, his flash light in his hand and his gun over his shoulder.

He negotiated the ladder carefully, mindful that it had been there for a good many years. He jumped the last few feet, and swung his gun around so that it was pointing into the blackness.

-0-0-0-

Ana drove back towards the farm. The man Morgan had said that they would be there as soon as he could. He couldn't help feeling excited at the thought of helping the FBI. He had always imagined himself as working for law enforcement, but he couldn't leave his Mum alone on the farm.

He had a tiny bit of resentment, not towards his mum, because he loved her, but against the circumstances of his life that tied him to a little farm that was never going to pay for itself.

He thought of the man that was sleeping in his Mum's bed. He had seen the way his Mum looked at him, and he hoped that she wasn't going to lose her heart to him. He didn't think that he would leave the United States to live in a little shack, and he knew his Mum would never leave the farm.....

-0-0-0-

The sound of something falling got Aaron's attention. He had been sitting shivering with Reid asleep in his arms for he didn't know how long. Time was meaningless down there. He had no way to measure the passage of time.

He opened his eyes and looked across through the blackness to where he thought the sound came from. It was deceptive in the echoey environment.

The light from the flashlight was as clean as a knife cutting the air.

'Reid, wake up.' He shook Spencer gently and his arms around him tightened.

'What is it, Aaron?'

'Look, there is a light.' Hotch said excitedly, 'and I heard something fall.'

Spencer opened his eyes and tried to focus. Although he had eaten, he was still weak, and his body was aching. Hotch could still feel the results of the beating he had endured. He released Reid, and stood shakily onto his feet.

'I am going to see what it was.' he said, and carefully limped to the extent of the chain. He could see silhouetted behind the light a man with a shotgun. The light swung around and shone in Hotch's eyes. He screwed up his eyes and he stepped backwards out of the beam of the flash light.

This was wrong. Why would anyone be down here with a gun unless it was to kill them?

.He saw the man move, and he heard the shot a split second before he felt it enter his hip. Hotch fell onto his back with a cry.

'I came to kill you.' he heard the man say. And then he passed out.

Reid crawled to Aaron, and felt fresh blood on his hip and on the ground.

He was relieved when he felt a pulse, but he needed help.

'Why have you done this? Reid shouted.

Arn pointed the gun in the direction of the voice. 'You know I have to kill you, don't you?'

'You won't get away with it, you know. You can't kill federal agents and think that no one will come looking for us.'

Arn didn't say anything else. He fired the gun and heard the sound of a body hitting the floor.


	6. Search

**The Conspiracy  
**Chapter 6  
Search

"_**Love and friendship are qualities to be admired and sought after above all others." ANON**_

There was no sound in the mine shaft. Only silence where the echoes of the gunshot faded, leaving nothing in its wake. It was pain that brought Hotch back into consciousness. The bullet had hit him in the side of his right hip, and his right leg was numb. Somewhere in his lower abdomen, the bullet nestled, and every movement Aaron made reminded him of this fact.

He slowly turned onto his front. The pain shot through him as he crawled in the dark to where he thought Reid was, dragging his useless leg behind him.

'Reid....Reid, are you hit?' he asked, reaching his hands out in front of him in a wide arc, searching for his friend.

Reid didn't answer. When Aaron made contact with him, it was warm sticky blood that he touched. He dragged himself closer, fighting off the dizziness that threatened to send him back into oblivion. He ran his hands over the face of the man lying in front of him, looking for signs of life, any movement that would show him that he was still alive.

The blood was on his left upper chest. Aaron carefully felt around Reid's back and found the exit wound.

'Spencer, please wake up.' Aaron urged his friend. 'Please.....'

Aaron was afraid to move him without seeing the extent of his injuries. His own wound was making him feel lightheaded and he wanted to vomit, and the blackness un nerved him to the extent that he couldn't think straight. He tried to work out why they had been shot. He could understand shoot to kill, but shoot to wound was pointless.

Spencer felt hot and sweaty, and his hair was stuck to his face. Aaron pushed it off his eyes and mouth. As he did so he felt a movement, and he noted with relief that Spencer was breathing. His own leg was without feeling and he thought that he had nerve damage. His mind ran away from him as he imagined working without his leg, and he finally threw up into the darkness. He leaned forward on his hands, and his broken hand screamed at him and he fell onto his elbow.

His stomach retched over and over, and his cracked ribs ground together as his body heaved. When it was over he collapsed back onto the hard floor and tears of pain and even fear flowed from his dark eyes.

'Spencer, Dave, I'm sorry I did not protect you.' he cried out loud. Suddenly his fingertips were in contact with Spencer's, and the two men held hands, each gaining strength from the other.

-0-0-0-

Dave was asleep when the knock came at the door of Chita's little house. Morgan and Emily showed their ID to the Mexican woman, and she stepped back at once to let them enter.

'Mr Rossi is asleep, but I'm sure he won't mind you waking him up.' she smiled. She was relieved that they had come, and surprised they were so quick. She led them through to the bedroom where Dave was lying. Emily went to the bedside.

'Rossi, Wake up!' She gently shook him and he opened his eyes and looked up at her.

'Thank goodness you are here.' he said. 'There is a conspiracy in the town. I've been shot and Reid and Hotch have been abducted. I haven't been able to do anything. You need to get onto it right away, Before Hotch or Reid are hurt, and before any more children are kidnapped.'

'Hey hey hey slow down, man.' Morgan put his hand out to Dave as he tried to get out of bed. 'Start at the beginning.'

Dave lay back down on the bed with a sigh. 'Ok. Ask Chita to come in. She's a witness, and will tell you part of the story.'

-0-0-0-

'The first thing we need to do, Dave, is to find Hotch and Reid.' Morgan said. 'They are in immediate danger.'

'Ana can show you the direction they took with Hotch.' Dave said. 'I assume that Reid will be in the same place. That might just be quicker than interrogating the UnSubs.'

Morgan and Emily followed Ana outside to his truck where their car was also parked.

'I can take you so far, but then the tracks were lost in a sand storm. But they were travelling in a fairly straight line.' Ana said, climbing into his vehicle.

Morgan got into the driving seat of the hire car, and Emily sat beside him. They waited until Ana had driven a few hundred feet in front to avoid the dust, and then Morgan pulled away and followed him.

Ana drove fast over the terrain and it was all Morgan could do to keep up. The young man knew the wilderness like the back of his hand and avoided the mounds and potholes that Morgan managed to hit every time. He regretted not getting a four by four almost as soon as they left the farm. Emily put her hands on her head when it hit the roof of the car for the third time. Morgan glanced at her, his knuckles white on the steering wheel, but she didn't say anything.

When finally Ana stopped his truck after driving some miles in a virtually straight line, Morgan pulled up next to him.

'This is as far as I got.' Ana said. 'I assume the place they were taking your friend is in a straight line from here. How will you find the place?'

'We have a magic fairy at our disposal.' said Morgan, opening his cell, and hoping there would be service.

There was.

'Garcia, Angel Babe!' he said as she answered the phone. 'Need your help, Sweetheart.'

'Anything for you Honey.' she answered, and Morgan allowed himself a brief grin.

'Have you got our location?' he asked. She answered yes. 'I need you to extrapolate our journey. Somewhere on that line should be the place where Hotch and Reid are being held. Think you can find it for us?'

He imagined her smile. Of course she could!

Garcia looked at the area extrapolated from the line of Morgan's short journey. There were no villages along the way, and no buildings on the satellite image, but what there were, were gold mines – disused and abandoned. She called Morgan back as she marked them on her map ready to send to him.

'I think they are in an old abandoned gold mine. There are six along the route that the car probably took them. I'm sending a map now with them marked on.'

Emily opened her PDA and received the map. Morgan closed his phone, and Ana came to look over their shoulders at the bright red dots that marked the positions of the disused gold mines.

'I know where these are.' Ana said. 'I can take you to them.'

'We need to hurry, Ana.' Emily said. 'Hotch and Reid are in serious danger.'

-0-0-0-

Aaron crawled painfully closer to Reid's side. He was cold, and hoped that they could share body warmth. The severe pain of his leg and hip had changed into a sickening low throbbing ache, and he fought to control his nausea. Reid wasn't moving now, and Aaron tried to feel if he was breathing. If he was then his respiration was intermittent and shallow. He pressed a shaking hand to his neck and felt for a pulse. He found one, and thanked his long neglected God.

He wrapped himself the best that he could around his colleague. Ok, he wasn't able to protect this team member from being shot, at least he could try to keep him warm.

Which was more than he did for Dave. His stomach knotted as he remembered watching his closest and best friend fall to his death.

He hadn't had a chance to think about the fact that he had lost him. He wanted to grieve but it felt unreal to him. Almost as soon as he had fallen, the UnSubs had beaten him and transported him to here – where ever 'here' was.

He assumed that he had been transported by car – he could smell motor oil and exhaust fumes on his clothes. But he had no idea of the duration of the journey. He couldn't see how they would be found. How long would it be until Morgan realised that his cell was switched off? If he was still on the other case, he thought it could be days, and he didn't think either of them had days.

He sighed a shaky sigh and hugged Reid closer. He hoped that soon he would fall unconscious and bleed out peacefully before he died of starvation or thirst.

-0-0-0-

'This is the first one on your map.' Ana said. Emily and Morgan got off Ana's truck.

The three of them stood at the head of the shaft and Morgan shone his flash light into the hole. There were no buildings, and no safety barriers, just a rotten wooden ladder disappearing into blackness. Morgan shouted Hotch and Reid's names into the hole, and listened as his voice echoed in the miles of tunnels below him. Emily thought for the first time that they had no idea how they were going to conduct the search. She called too, but there was no answer.

'They could be unconscious or.....' she said to Morgan.

Morgan inclined his head slightly. 'Let's check out the ladder. Then at least we will be able to tell if it has been used lately.

He leaned over the edge and pulled at the top rung. It didn't take very much effort to pull the rung off in his hand. He reached down to the next one, and got the same result.

'No one has been down here in a long time.' Morgan said.

'Where's the next one, Ana?' asked Emily, already heading back to the car, praying that their assumption was right. Emily rarely second guessed herself. But two colleagues' lives were at stake here, one of those lives she was particularly fond of. They had to get this right. A mistake now and they could lose them.

Ana got into his truck, Morgan and Emily sat in the front beside him. The sat wordlessly as Ana's truck bounced across the landscape. Emily and Morgan were both thinking the same thing – what if they were wrong.........

-0-0-0-

The rats were out. Aaron felt one scuttle across him, and nip at his wound. It didn't hurt – his lower body was numb now, but the thought of what would happen should he pass out brought a wave of nausea. He released Reid and rolled away from him. Resting on his elbows, he threw up again, the wrenching waves bringing tears to his eyes.

_oh god......... oh god........._

He clutched at his rib cage, trying to hold his broken bones together, only succeeding in hurting himself more.

He wiped his mouth on his sleeve, and rubbed at his tear filled eyes. Then he moved back to Reid again.

'Are you still with me, Spencer?' he whispered, almost as if the silence and darkness mustn't be broken. 'Are you still with me?'

He put his arms around him and drew him close, swiping at the creatures that were crawling over Reid's prone body.

He was now determined to remain conscious as long as possible. He needed to keep the rats away from Spencer.

-0-0-0-

Emily leaned over the edge of the second mine shaft and pulled at the rung. This time the wood stayed put. And the next one.

'They could have used this one.' she said to Morgan, who was shining his flash light down the shaft on the ladder. The landing was about fifty feet down.

'Reid! Hotch!' he called. As before there was no answer, but it didn't mean that they weren't there.

'Let's look.' he said, and he swung down onto the rungs of the old ladder. He hung on tightly just in case they wouldn't take his weight. With his flash light held firmly in his teeth, he began the slow climb down into the darkness.

Ana went to follow him, but Emily stopped him.

'No, Ana. You stay up here. This is where we need you.'

Emily followed Morgan into the mine shaft, wondering if this was where they would find Hotch and Reid......

.....and wondering if this was a rescue or a body retrieval.


	7. Discovery

**The Conspiracy  
**Chapter 7  
Discovery

"_**If the people we love are stolen from us, the way to have them live on is to never stop loving them. Buildings burn, people die, but real love is forever." From THE CROW (1994)**_

The torch light cut through the inky blackness of the tunnel at the foot of the shaft in two silver cones. There didn't appear to be anything apart from the rough hewn walls of the mine, and the dust mites in the beams. carefully the two agents moved forward along the tunnel, each wondering how far they were going to search the tunnels before giving up and going on to the next mine.

Emily shone her light onto the ground in front of their feet, and Morgan's lit up the tunnel ahead of them. Morgan's flash light caught something on the ground ahead, at the same moment, Emily pulled Morgan back as another shaft became visible and seemed to open up before them in front of their feet. He lost his balance and they both fell backwards on the ground, Morgan's flashlight bounced out of his hand into the mine shaft at his feet.

Morgan didn't say anything, he just lay very still and breathing heavily for a moment before getting up again, and reaching down to raise Emily to her feet.

'There's something ahead.' Emily said, shining her flash light in front of her again.

Morgan squinted through the darkness. 'Hotch?....... Reid?'

Carefully he inched around the shaft that was between them and whatever was lying up ahead; flat against the side walls of the tunnel, Emily next to him. He glanced down to see the beam of his dropped light many feet below. Looking down made him dizzy and for a moment he stopped moving and breathed very carefully, pressing his back against the rough wall.

'Are you all right, Emily?'

'Yes.' she answered. 'Hurry up I don't like this!'

Morgan inched a few feet further where the ledge widened to a safer width and then the floor returned. Emily, who had clipped her flashlight on her belt, shone it once again across to what Morgan had seen from the other side of the chasm.

It looked like a body. Or maybe two.

She ran ahead of Morgan heedless of any more shafts, and knelt down.

'Morgan, It's Hotch and Reid.' Quickly she felt for a pulse, and her hand was shaking so much she wasn't able to find one.'

There was a lot of blood. The beam picked out the shiny blackness of the congealing blood around the two men on the ground.

She shone her light over the bodies. 'They are chained up, Morgan, and I think these are gunshot wounds. Hotch has been beaten.' She shone her light onto his bruised skin on his face and chest.

Morgan knelt down beside her. 'They are both alive. Stay here with them, I'll go out and call for an ambulance.'

'We need bolt cutters too.' Emily said, handing Morgan her flashlight. Morgan nodded, and went quickly back to the ledge. He wondered how the two agents were brought here past this, and thought that there had to be another way round. But he didn't have time to find it.

He got round the ledge, fasted this time, and ran to the ladder.

Emily gently touched Hotch and Reid, hoping to let them know she was there, even though they were both unconscious.

'It's Emily, here.' she said gently into the darkness. She glanced at the way Morgan had gone, and saw the last of the light disappear as he climbed the ladder. She turned her head back as she felt a movement beneath her fingers.

Hotch was awake.

'Hotch, It's Emily. You are going to be ok now.' She felt for his hand but when she found it, it was bloody and twisted. She rested her hand on his wrist.

'They killed Dave.' Hotch whispered, a sob in his voice.'

'He's ok, Hotch. He survived.' she said gently, blinking in the blackness, and wondering how the two men kept their sanity imprisoned down here. She squeezed Hotch's arm.

'Stay awake, now, Boss. You're going to be fine.'

Hotch didn't answer her, but he closed his eyes and tried to fight the pain.

'Spencer?' he said softly.

'He's here beside you, Hotch. He's asleep.'

'Sick..... I'm going to .......uh....'

With Emily's help he turned onto his front, and leaning on his elbows, he threw up again, the pain causing him to float in a sea of agony. Emily gently held a cool hand on his forehead, as his body heaved and he cried out in pain as his empty stomach rebelled against the movement.

When it was over, Emily cradled him in her arms, and felt his body relax as he slipped into oblivion again.

'Hotch, stay with me now.' she said, but Hotch was deeply unconscious now, and although he could hear her voice, he wasn't able to respond.

-0-0-0-

Ana reached out his hand to Morgan as he reached to top of the ladder.

'We've found them.' Morgan said. 'Thanks to you.'

'Alive?'

'So far. I need to call the Emergency Services.' He opened his cell. 'Damn it – no service!' he growled. He looked across to Ana. 'I need to drive back until I get service. Would you stay here in case Prentiss needs anything?'

'Yeah, sure. Glad to help.' Ana said with a shaky smile. He sat sideways on the driver's seat of his truck with his feet on the ground. 'Can't we bring them out?' he asked.

'They are chained up.' Morgan answered, anger at how his friends were treated evident in his voice.

'Don't get lost.' Ana said as Morgan got into his car.

Morgan drove back the way they had come, stopping every hundred yards or so to check his cell service. He had gone over a mile before he was in a covered area. With a sigh of relief, and a fear that he could be too late, he dialled 911. He told them that they would need lights and bolt cutters, and he told them to hurry, for god's sake.

He called Dave and told him that they had found Hotch and Reid.

'Are they ok?' Dave asked, almost afraid of the answer. Morgan didn't sound very positive, and he had broken bad news often enough to recognise the tone.

'It's not good, Dave. I'll get back to you as soon as I know better.'

Then he made another call.

'Baby Girl, we have found them.'

'Where? Are they ok?'

'They are down one of the mine shafts you found for us. Number two on your map. But they are not good. I think they've been shot, and Hotch has been beaten up pretty badly. I've called the paramedics, and I'm just waiting now.'

'Let me know, Morgan, won't you.'

'I'll keep you informed, although it might be a while. There's no cell service at the mine.'

They flirted a little, and then they closed the connection.

Then he waited. The ambulance was to meet him where he was, following his cell signal, then he was to tell them where his friends were, trapped below ground in desperate need of their help.

It felt like hours that he was waiting, but it could only have in reality been a few minutes, before he heard the sound of the helicopter. He stood on the roof of his car and waved his arms in desperation. The air ambulance descended, and Morgan climbed on board. Once they were in the air, Morgan could clearly see Ana's truck. He pointed it out, and the helicopter began its final descent to the disused gold mine.

'This way, this way!' he shouted over the sound of the rotor blades, and led the paramedics to the shaft head. As well as their medical cases, they were carrying a light and bolt cutters. Morgan took the light.

'It's a difficult descent.' he said. Ana offered to take the bolt cutters, and the four of them climbed down carefully.

They set up the light at the foot of the ladder, and Morgan saw a pile of floor boards that they could use to rest across the second shaft. Quickly the four men lifted the boards and laid them across the chasm. Morgan noticed his flashlight still cutting a beam many feet below.

Then the four carefully traversed the bridge and ran across to the fallen men.

Emily blinked in the sudden light. 'I think it's too late.' she said through a veil of tears.

Morgan rested his hands on her shoulders, and gently led her away so that the paramedics could get in and do their job. Ana took the bolt cutters and cut through the chains that were holding the two men at the ankles.

The paramedics rolled the two men onto their backs and began their work.

-0-0-0-

Dave tried to get out of the bed. Chita had gone to the village for supplies, and he took the opportunity to try walking. He knew Chita was afraid for her son, and Dave wanted to get this over for her as quickly as possible. He owed his life and probably the lives of Reid and Hotch, to the quick thinking of this young man. He wanted to get out of their lives as soon as he could.

He slowly swung his legs over the side of the bed, holding his bandaged wound to try to stop any movement. Then carefully, he transferred his weight onto his feet. Still holding onto the bed, a wave of nausea flooded over him and he stopped moving and fought the feeling. He put it down to having been lying in bed for so long, he felt light headed and faint.

As the feeling wore off he took a step towards the door. He swayed as he left the security of the bed and he reached out to take hold of the door frame. Another step and he was there.

He clung onto the door frame, thinking that he was maybe doing this too soon. His chest hurt and he was hyperventilating. It was almost like a panic attack. He desperately needed to be well, but he wasn't ready yet.

He looked across at the bed so far away now, and he slowly sank to the floor in a faint.

-0-0-0-

Reid was not breathing, and his heart was fibrillating. They pulled apart his shirt and applied the paddles while another intubated him and forced air into his lungs. They worked in silence and Emily stood with Morgan, her hand over her mouth. Morgan just stared at the scene in front of him. Ana sat on the ground by the cut chains and watched. He didn't know the men, but the love these people had for one another was almost palpable in the cold air, and he prayed silently for their survival.

A second team worked on Hotch. Morgan could hear them mumbling to one another as they intubated him ready for the ventilator, and checked on his heart beat. Morgan's eyes were drawn back to Reid as he heard the word 'Clear' and Reid's starved bleeding body jerked up from the ground. The beautiful sound of a sinus rhythm came from the monitor, and Morgan realised that he had been holding his breath.

They loaded Hotch onto a stretcher, and lifted him off the cold floor of the mine. They were half way across the bridge that they had built when it happened. They froze at the rumbling sound, and they covered their heads as the tunnel collapsed. Morgan leapt forwards to try to cover Reid with his own body. Emily crouched down in the chaos, trying to protect herself. She pulled Ana close to her and covered him. The two medics and Hotch disappeared down the shaft as the gap widened and the timbers fell into the hole, and as the dust began to settle, there was no movement in the mine.


	8. Day Four

**The Conspiracy  
**Chapter 8  
Day Four

_**A dying man needs to die, as a sleepy man needs to sleep, and there comes a time when it is wrong, as well as useless, to resist. - **__**Stewart Alsop**_****

As the last of the dust settled, Emily sat up, coughing and gagging.

'Are you ok, Ana?' she asked. The lamp light had gone and Morgan had her flash light.

'I think so.' Ana groaned as he tried to sit up. 'My arm hurts, but it's nothing too bad.'

'Morgan!' Emily called to him, reaching out to where she thought she last saw him. 'Morgan, where are you?'

'He's here, I think.' Ana called to her. Emily crawled towards his voice. Morgan was lying on his front over Reid. Emily quickly felt for life signs, and breathed a sigh of relief when she found a strong pulse. As she ran her hands over his body checking for injuries, he groaned and tried to sit up.

'Where are you hurt?' she asked him, unhooking her flash light off his belt. He winced as she switched it on and shone it in his eyes.

'Sorry.' She moved the beam. 'You are bleeding from a head wound.'

'I'm fine. Check Reid. Where is Hotch?'

'Hotch was on the bridge when the tunnel collapsed.' Emily said, running her hands along Reid's body. He groaned as she touched his arm, which was twisted unnaturally.

'I think you've broken your arm, Reid. Lay still while we find the others.'

Morgan had crawled to the edge of the chasm. He looked down but he could no longer see his flash light.

'Hotch?'

'He's hurt!' the voice of the paramedic called up. 'I'm ok, but I think my partner might be dead.' He sounded panicky and frightened.

'I'm coming down to you.' Morgan said.

'No, I'l l try to find a way up.' he called back, 'Your friend is badly hurt. I don't think I should move him.'

'Don't come up and leave him!' Emily called down. 'Don't you dare leave him.'

'I can't do this on my own.' he said, a sob in his voice. 'I'm only training! I'm not ready for this.'

'I'm going down to him.' Morgan said to Emily. 'He sounds as if he's going to fall apart on his own.'

'I'll stay here with Reid and Ana.' Emily said. 'And pray.....'

-0-0-0-

When Chita got home, she found David lying in the bedroom doorway, at fist she thought the men from the town had come and killed him, but to her relief, he began to move as she touched him.

'Mr Rossi, what on earth are you doing?'

'I need to get out of here, Chita. I am putting you in danger by being here.' he said, gasping in pain.

Chita helped him to his feet and led him slowly and carefully back to the bed.

'Don't do that again, Mr Rossi.' she said in mock anger. 'You could kill yourself. The townsmen think they have killed you. They won't be looking for you. Don't do them any favours by finishing their job!''

Dave slumped gratefully back onto the bed. He needed to contact the team, or at least speak to Garcia, and without his phone he felt cut off and vulnerable.

'Chita,' he said as she tucked in the blankets. 'Is there any chance of getting hold of a mobile cell phone for me to use? I will happily pay for it. I am worried about my friends.'

'I don't know anyone who has one.' she said, thinking. 'Unless the store owner has. I can go and find out.'

'Thank you, Chita.' she turned to leave and Dave called her back. 'Chita, be careful whom you ask. Don't tell anyone I'm here.'

'I'll say it's to call my mother.' Chita said, understanding. And she left Dave alone again.

-0-0-0-

Morgan started to climb down to Hotch and the medic, who was having, Morgan thought, a panic attack. Emily shone her flashlight so that Morgan could see what he was doing. Hanging grimly on the face of the almost sheer drop, he had to fight panicking himself.

'Are you ok?' Emily called to him as he stopped climbing and hugged the wall.

'Fine' he breathed, and moved a foot down to another foothold that Emily held in her beam. Carefully he moved a hand, and his body descended another foot.

There was a long way to go.

Emily held her breath as Morgan inched down into the hole. Neither of them knew what they would find when he reached the bottom, but Hotch needed him to get to the bottom in one piece. A sudden sound of rocks falling froze Morgan onto the face again, but the fall was elsewhere in the tunnels, not where they were.

He was about ten feet from the bottom when he missed his footing and slid down the rough face, grazing his palms and face on the hewn rock.

He landed winded at the bottom, amongst the broken boards and bodies.

'Morgan! Are you ok?'

'Yeah!' he answered. He saw the beam of his flashlight under the debris and he reached down for it. He shone the beam across the small space where he now found himself. One of the medics was dead. Morgan checked for vitals, but he could see that his neck was broken. The other medic was cowering against the wall, whimpering softly to himself. He would be of no use.

He climbed over the debris to Hotch.

An ugly spike of metal, the remains of the stretcher on which he was being carried, stuck upwards through his lower abdomen. It glistened sickly in the torch beam.

He found a pulse.

_Oh god Hotch...... How could you survive that?_

Morgan knelt by his side and took his good hand.

'Hotch, I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm going to get you out of here.'

It was a relief to Morgan when Hotch responded with a squeeze of his hand. He was still intubated, and he pulled his hand away from Morgan, and raised his hand to his face, and pulled the tube out of his throat. He gagged and coughed, then he spoke.

'I order..... you.... to get..... out...... leave m-me..... order... uh'

Hotch fainted, the effort of speaking being too much for him. Morgan looked at him with a mixture of admiration and anger.

He would never leave a man behind, orders or not.

The wound wasn't bleeding too much, but the medic was right. He couldn't be moved. He checked him over, and called up for Emily.

'Hotch is hurt badly, Emily. I daren't move him. I'm staying down here with him.'

'Ok.' she answered. She lifted Reid's head onto her lap so that he could be comfortable.

'Garcia knows where we are.' Morgan continued. 'Sooner or later she will get help for us.'

_I just hope it is sooner – I don't know how Hotch will survive, or how long the tunnels will hold up....._

Emily turned to Ana. 'You know these mines?'

'Used to play down here as a kid.'

'What set off the cave in?'

'Probably the vibrations of the helicopter.' Ana said. 'That and the car and my truck.'

'Is there another way down to the where Hotch is?'

'The only way is straight down. I'm sorry.'

Emily nodded, and concentrated on Reid. He had passed out again, and there was blood on the dressing on his chest. That was not a good sign.

'Ana, press down on his chest wound.' she said, and Ana knelt beside Reid and did as she asked. She shone the flash light across Reid's face but he didn't react to the light. He was deeply unconscious. She felt along his broken arm, and gently felt for exposed bone. His upper arm was twisted in the middle, and there was a bone pressing onto the inside of his bloody shirt sleeve. She worried about infection in the dirty environment, and she hoped that rescue would come quickly.

-0-0-0-

Chita came back to Dave very excited. In her hand she had a large cell phone. Dave was asleep, recovering from his fall at the door. Chita sat on the side of the bed and shook him gently. He opened his soft brown eyes and looked up at her. She held up the phone with a triumphant look on her face. Dave smiled at her.

'You are amazing, Chita.' he said, and she beamed at him.

She put the phone in his hand and he dialled Garcia's number.

Garcia was getting frantic. Morgan had promised to call her back but she had heard nothing. Neither his cell, nor Emily's was in service, and she couldn't contact Rossi. When her phone rang and caller id said David Rossi, she grabbed the phone with relief.

'Penelope, has Morgan or Prentiss been in touch with you?'

'Yes! Yes!' she almost shouted down the phone. 'I was supposed to have heard back from them by now. I don't know what I should do. I am glad you called, Sir.'

'Do you know where they have gone?'

'Yes. They were looking for Hotch and Reid hidden in a mine shaft. I know which one.'

Garcia told Dave the name of the mine where Morgan had found Hotch and Reid. 'That was hours ago. They should have come back to me by now!'

'Don't worry, Penelope.' he said. 'Stay calm, and I will find out what has happened.'

He switched off the old cell phone and passed it back to Chita, and he took some money from his wallet and gave her that too.

'Chita,' he said. 'We need the police. Quickly.'

-0-0-0-

Hotch's breathing was becoming laboured, and Morgan was very worried.

'Get over here.' he said to the paramedic. 'I need your help.'

The man was sitting with his arms clasped around his knees, rocking and whimpering. Morgan resisted the urge to hit him.

'I need you here, NOW!' he said. 'This man could be dying. I need your help.'

There was still no reaction from the medic. Morgan took off his jacket and rolled it up. He placed it as a pillow for Hotch, and then, barely containing his anger, crawled across to the man. He pulled his arms away from his knees, and took his face in one hand, forcing the man to look at him.

'I said', he repeated, 'I need your help.'

'I'm s-sorry, I can't do it. I c-can't!'

'If my friend dies while you sit here hugging your knees and crying like a baby, I will kill you.' Morgan said. 'And that is a promise.'

The man looked up at Morgan with fear filled eyes. 'O k-kay. I'll try.' He wiped tears from his face with the back of his hand, and crawled with Morgan back to Hotch.

Hotch was struggling for breath. His head was back and his eyes rolled in their sockets.

'He needs to be intubated.' the medic said.

'So intubate him!' Morgan said.

'I've never done it before.' he said, but all the same, he pulled his box close, and opened it, retrieving a sterile tube. Hotch was starting to thrash in a panic. The medic knelt at his head, tilted his head back and with shaking hands, attempted to intubate Hotch.

'It won't go in!' he shouted. 'I told you i couldn't do it! I told you.'

'Do it!' growled Morgan. 'His life is dependant on you.'

The medic closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then he smoothly and accurately slid the tube into place, and taped it in position. He took the bulb and attached it onto the tube and began to ventilate Hotch's lungs. Almost immediately, Hotch stopped thrashing, and closed his eyes.

'He's going to be ok now.' the medic said. Morgan took the bulb and carried on squeezing it.

'Thank you.' he said. He looked up to where Emily and Ana were. 'How are you doing up there?' he called. Emily leaned over the edge.

'We're ok, Morgan. Reid is bleeding from the gunshot wound, but Ana is pressing on it to slow the bleeding. Is Hotch ok?'

Morgan looked up at the medic. 'Yes, I think so. Thanks to our medic down here.'

He looked down at Hotch.

_Ok, boss man. Stay with us now........._

He prayed that rescue would come quickly.

_Come on Doll Face. You know where we are................_

'


	9. Losing

**The Conspiracy  
**Chapter 9  
Losing

"_**When I hold you in my arms and I feel my finger on your trigger I know no one can do me no harm because happiness is a warm **__**gun**__**.**__**" – John Lennon**_

Garcia didn't have a go bag, but that didn't slow her down. She locked down her bunker, packed her lap top and took the lift down to the ground floor, where the taxi was waiting to take her to the airport. She had made a reservation to fly to Mexico, and a hire car was waiting for her at the airport. She was going to join David Rossi and find her colleagues.

The taxi felt like the slowest car on the road. She bit back her frustration as cars overtook and flew past on the road, but at last they reached the airport, and she quickly got out of the taxi, paid the driver, and rushed to the desk to collect her ticket.

In the departure lounge she was too stressed to sit down, so she paced up and down, wearing a groove in the carpet. When her flight was called it was all she could do not to run to the boarding gate. They couldn't go until everyone was on the plane, but her heart said 'run'.

She knew exactly where Rossi was, having triangulated his position from the cell phone signal. She just wanted to be there and find her friends.

-0-0-0-

Dave was fuming. The local police had said in the strongest possible terms that they couldn't help the FBI as the mine was out of their jurisdiction – just over the border. Dave needed to get out of this bed.

He called Chita.

'I need your help to get out of here.' he said to her. 'I have to find my colleagues.'

'Mr Rossi, I don't think you are well enough, but I am so worried about Ana. He knows I worry, but he should have been home by now.'

Dave reached out and took her hand. 'Help me get up.'

Dave sat up with her help, and pushed back the covers and carefully swung his legs out of the bed. Chita took him by the elbow and supported him as he stood shakily on his feet. He stood still for a moment to fight off the nausea that threatened to knock him out again.

'Are you going to be ok?' she asked, doubting very much that he would be.

Dave didn't answer. 'Let me sit down somewhere.' he said. She led him to the old couch in her family room, and he sat down with relief.

He realised that he wasn't going to be able to do anything.

-0-0-0-

Garcia drove the hire car as fast a she legally could towards the farm where Dave was. The ground was dusty and dry, and the road was compacted mud. Driving, she wondered how people could farm the land, scrape a living out of it, it looked so unproductive. She drove through small fields with goats and sheep chewing at the scratty grass. It was with great relief that she drove along the drive to Chita's farm. She hoped that Rossi would agree that she was right in her actions.

She pulled up outside the little farmhouse and got out of the car. She went to the door and knocked.

-0-0-0-

Hotch wondered where he was. He was unable to move, and when he opened his eyes, the world was as black as when he closed them. He tried to decide whether he had actually managed to open them, and tried to move a hand to his face to check, but he was too weak, and the attempt at movement made his head swim. He realised that he had no feeling from his hips down, and the pain that his entire body was experiencing emanated from his lower abdomen. With a determination that came from somewhere deep inside, he moved his hand to the source of his agony.

The spike of metal was sticky in his hand, and as his fingers closed around it, he felt as if his body was on fire.

He twisted and tugged at the spike, his hands slipping on the congealed mess of blood and intestine, and blood welled up around it. The pain was so bad, but he couldn't scream with the tube down his throat. He made a sickly gurgling sound that brought Morgan to his side.

He turned on his flashlight and saw what his boss was trying to do. He closed his hand over Hotch's.

'Don't pull it out, Man. You'll start the bleeding again.' He had wanted to say 'You'll die.' because that was a certainty. The wound was severe, and removing the spike would cause bleeding, and peritonitis, if that hadn't already set in. Pulling at the spike was irrational; Hotch would have known not to move it. Morgan prayed that his boss wasn't dying before him. He imagined the poison streaming through his blood stream. He called for the medic, who was back against the wall, rocking.

'Do you carry antibiotics in that box of yours?'

He didn't expect an answer. Morgan prised Hotch's fingers off the wicked spike. It would not be possible to remove it from the front; the metal was bent behind his back. Morgan felt Hotch's forehead – not the best indicator of a high temperature, but it gave an idea, and the man was burning up. There wasn't much time left now. He pulled the medics box next to him and shone his flash light at the contents. There was an array of bottles of drugs, but without the medic's help, he didn't dare administer any.

He called up to Emily

'How is Reid?'

'He's unconscious, Morgan, but he's moving around a lot. I think he's in pain, even though he's passed out.'

'I wish I could get up there with you, Emily, but I can't leave Hotch. He's delirious.'

'We're ok here' Emily called back, trying to sound reassuring, but not quite able to keep the fear out of her voice. 'I've tried looking for a way out but I can't get round the hole.'

'What do you think caused it?' Morgan called back, and Ana answered.

'Vibrations of the helicopter, I think.' he said, his voice shaking. Ana felt sick, the arm injury was far worse than he let on. He was certain it was broken, but he didn't want to appear cowardly in front of these brave FBI agents. He had always wanted to be in law enforcement, but he couldn't leave his mother. But the short time working with these people had made him more determined than ever.

'How's Hotch doing?' Emily called down.

Morgan toyed with the idea of lying, but thought better of it.

'I wish I could say good, Emily, but he's very ill.' he said. 'Do you know anything about antibiotics?'

'No, Morgan.' she said, a frightened tone to her voice.

Morgan took the bulb off the tube in Hotch's throat. He was breathing on his own, he was awake, but he seemed unaware of where he was or who was with him.

'Hotch Man, it's Morgan here.' he said softly to him. 'Hold on Man, I'm going to get you out of here.'

He hoped that it was the truth.

Hotch stared back at him with wide dark pain filled eyes.

-0-0-0-

'Penelope!' Rossi said in surprise as she entered the room. He tried to stand, but he couldn't. 'I am so glad you are here. We have got to get out of here and find our team!'

'I don't think you are well enough, Mr Rossi.' Chita said.

'I can't let Miss Garcia go alone. She is not a field agent.' Dave said. 'I must go with her.'

Garcia could see that Dave was pale, and his hands were shaking. He had no side arm, but she knew that he had to come with her, even if he stayed in the car.

'Help me get him to the car, please, Chita.' Garcia said.

Dave allowed the two women to help him outside and sit him in the front seat of the car that Garcia had hired. He was glad to see that she had the foresight to hire an SUV. Garcia leaned across him and strapped him in. Chita supplied a cushion to hold over his gun shot wound, to stop the seat belt from hurting him. They had a rough ride ahead. Dave was so exhausted at being manhandled into the car, it was a struggle to remain awake and alert.

But he had to. Garcia was not trained for this. He would have preferred to go alone, but he wasn't well enough. He decided to try to conserve enough energy to take over when they arrived at the mine.

'Just a moment.' Chita said and ran indoors. She re emerged seconds later with a shotgun. She opened Dave's door and handed it to him.

'It's old, but Ana cleaned it regularly. It's loaded.'

Chita watched them go, and realised that she had referred to Ana in the past tense. She said a silent prayer to her god that they would find Ana and bring him home.

-0-0-0-

'I know where they are.' Garcia said, trying to reassure Dave. 'At least i know where they said they were going.' she added. The thought had only just occurred to her that they might not be at the mine. She worried why Morgan hadn't got in touch again, and tired to work out a scenario in her mind why he hadn't without his being hurt, but she wasn't able to. She also hoped that there wouldn't be any need for guns. They only had Chita's shot gun, and she didn't know if she could fire it. She glance across at Dave, who was holding tight onto it, his knuckles white. She hoped he was strong enough to use it if he had to.

Dave asked for Garcia's cell phone, and he dialled each of the missing agents in turn. He really didn't expect an answer, but he kept trying. Garcia broke his concentration.

'Look up ahead!' she said.

A few miles up ahead across the flat desolate landscape was a car, seemingly abandoned in the wilderness. Garcia left the road and drove towards it.

'It's a hire car.' Dave said as they neared it. Garcia pulled up next to it, and got out to investigate. One of the doors was unlocked, and she opened it and checked the glove box. She pulled out the small sheaf of papers. Derek Morgan's name was on the hire receipt. She stood out of the car, and called Morgan's name, searching the landscape for any sight of him. There was nothing.

She took the documents back to Dave.

'It's Morgan's car.' she said

'At least we know we are driving in the right direction.' Dave said. Garcia got back in and started the engine.

'I hope we are not too late.' she said, voicing her anxiety, despite trying to keep it to herself. She needed words of reassurance.

Dave couldn't give any. He was trying to figure out why Morgan had left his car in the middle of no where. The only thing he could come up with was he was trying to find cell service, but then where was he now? He felt sick with worry.

-0-0-0-

Emily put down her flash light. The battery was dead and they were plunged into blackness. she suddenly felt a wave of fatigue wash over her, and she laid down on the rocky floor next to Reid.

'Miss Prentiss, are you alright? Where are you?'

Emily heard panic in the young man's voice, and it occurred to her that he was only keeping together because she was. It was her responsibility to not fall apart. Reid and Ana both depended on her.

'I'm here, Ana.' she said, managing to keep her voice steady. She felt his hand on her shoulder. 'I'm fine.' she lied.

Ana knew it was a lie, but he didn't care. He took her words at face value and it gave him courage. He wrapped his good arm around his torso and injured arm, and rocked back on his heels.

'Do you think we'll die down here?' he said, his voice calm.

'Rossi knows where we are. He'll find us.' she said, only half believing it. She remembered hos ill he had looked when she had last seen him.

Earlier that day.

Or was it yesterday?

She had no idea how long they had been trapped down here. She crawled to the edge of the chasm.

'Morgan.... ' she called. 'How's things?'

'Not good.' Morgan answered. 'I think I'm loosing Hotch.'


	10. Fire Power

**The Conspiracy  
**Chapter 10  
Fire Power

"_**You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist." - Friedrich Nietzsche **_

Dave watched the horizon as Garcia drove the car, avoiding holes and the brown stubby shrubs that poked up through the dry cracked ground as she went.

'I think I can see the emergency service helicopter, but something is wrong.' Rossi said. Garcia halted the car.

'It looks tilted over.' she said.

'It does.' Dave agreed. 'But it hasn't crashed. There's no sign of fire.'

Garcia started driving again. 'We will be there in a minute.' she said. Her heart was thumping in her chest as adrenalin pumped through her body. Now they were so close, she was afraid of what they would find. The whole team missing was a scenario she dared never contemplate, and being faced with it was almost painful. She risked a glance at Rossi as she took the car at over fifty across the desert. He looked pale and grim. She suddenly realised that as the only surviving field agent, all this was in his lap. She wondered how he wasn't screaming.

As they drew closer, they could see that the helicopter looked undamaged, but it had tipped sideways into a hole that seemed to have appeared beneath it. Ana's truck was stopped next to it. Garcia stopped next to Ana's truck.

She got out of the car and looked around, trying to figure out what to do.

_I'm not trained for this......_

Dave opened his door, but he didn't get out of the car.

'Penelope, check the radio in the helicopter.' Dave said. 'But be careful. It might be unstable, looking at the ground. If the radio works, get help out here asap.'

Wordlessly, Garcia pulled herself up into the cabin of the helicopter. There was an un nerving creaking sound as she climbed up, and she froze.

The machine didn't move. She noticed that the two lower blades were actually dug into the ground. She hoped that they would be strong enough to take the extra weight.

Dave watched with bated breath as she climbed in. The radio was switched on – the medics hadn't expected to be away for long. She briefly glanced around. Where were they?

With shaking hands she picked up the mike and called for help.

-0-0-0-

A slight movement of the earth, and dirt and dust fell around the five trapped people. Emily instinctively leaned across Reid and shielded him. Morgan did the same for Hotch. Any moment and the whole lot was liable to come crashing down. But not this time. The ground settled and the dust stopped falling.

'What the hell was that?' he said, more to himself than to anyone else. He had dropped the air bulb attached to Hotch's trachea tube, and he fumbled in the dark to try to find it again. Without it, Hotch was dead. He felt his neck for a pulse, and it took a little longer this time to find it.

'Stay with me Man.' he said softly. 'Don't you go anywhere.'

'Is he alright?' Emily called. She felt light headed and realising that they were all on the brink of suffocation didn't help.

'No change.' he lied. 'Reid?'

'I'm not sure, Morgan. There's something wrong, he's not breathing right. I need a medic, but both are under the cave in.'

'Garcia knows where we are. She'll come and find us.'

He hoped so anyway. The air felt thick in his lungs.

-0-0-0-

'They are sending help.' Garcia said to Dave. 'But it will be a while. They only have two helicopters and the other one is on an emergency.' She looked around. 'Sir, there is supposed to be a disused mine around here, but I can't see it.'

'I think we are standing on it.' Dave said. 'The helicopter had caused a cave in.'

'Oh no! So our people are in the mine, and could be hurt.' She looked at the ground. 'We can't start digging in case it caves in more.'

Dave wiped the sweat off his forehead. It was stinging his eyes. He didn't want to wait. Seconds could mean lives. He made a decision.

'Penelope, look over there.' He pointed to a crack in the dry earth on the other side of the grounded helicopter. 'See if the rocks are loose over there. Even if we can't get them out, we might be able to get some air to them.'

Garcia didn't have to be told twice. She ran to where the ground was disturbed and started pulling chunks of dry earth and boulders out of the crack with her bare hands, widening it enough to reach her arm through into the darkness beyond.

That was when she heard Emily's voice.

'Emily, is that you?'

Emily had been listening to what she thought was the ground settling. When a shaft of light broke through the roof of her prison, it was as much as she could do not to shout with joy.

'Garcia?' she shouted instead. 'Garcia, I don't believe it. Morgan it's Garcia'

'Baby Girl, I knew you wouldn't let us down!' he called.

Ana carefully crawled across to where the light was breaking through. He started to pull away at the rocks from the inside, and soon there was a hole a few feet across, big enough for Reid.

'You go first, Ana, and I'll hold Reid for you to pull him out after you.' Emily said. He did as he was directed, and he leaned back in and took Reid by the shoulders, and pulled him out. Emily sighed with relief as he disappeared from her view.

Morgan told the medic that was with him to go. He didn't need to be told twice. He climbed out of the hole and through to daylight.

'Hotch can't be moved.' Emily called up to Garcia.' I am going to stay here with Morgan until the rescue services can get Hotch. I'm not leaving them.'

'They will be here soon.' Garcia called down to her.

Without telling Morgan she climbed down into the chasm where he was kneeling next to Hotch ventilating him with the bulb. When she was next to him, she took over from him.

'You should get out, Emily. This whole lot could come down on us.'

'I'm not leaving. Reid, Ana and the medic are safe. I'm not leaving you.'

'I could order you to go.'

'You could try!' Emily said. She heard Morgan chuckle in the darkness. He put his flashlight in her hand.

'Might as well use this. No point in conserving batteries now.'

She unscrewed the top off the torch, and fitted it to the bottom and stood it on the ground like a lamp. It lit up their little cave with a weak yellow light. She saw Hotch for the first time. What she saw made her stomach clench in empathetic agony.

The metal spike through his abdomen was dark with blood and torn flesh. His entire hip area was red with blood, and the gunshot wound was a ripped hole in his side. His skin was white in contrast, and dirt was stuck to sweat. Livid bruises showed up on his skin of his chest and face where he'd been beaten. She could hardly believe that he was still alive. A lesser man would have given up the fight long ago.

'Oh my god.' she breathed. She took his undamaged hand in her free hand, and squeezed so gently. Although his eyes were closed and he seemed unresponsive, she was sure that he reacted to her touch and squeezed back.

'Hotch, it's Emily. We're getting you out now. Rescue is here.'

-0-0-0-

'I'm Ana.' he introduced himself. 'Are you Garcia?'

She smiled at him, as she bent down at Reid's head to lift him. Ana stooped at his feet.

'I am.' she said. Ana and Garcia carried Reid towards the car.

'Someone is coming.' Ana said. Garcia turned, and saw the dust cloud as a vehicle sped across the desert. 'Is it the rescue services?'

'I don't think so.' Garcia said. 'Quickly, we must get Reid somewhere safe!'

Dave had climbed out of the car and was opening the back door for Reid when he noticed the approaching car. He recognised it at once.

It belonged to the sheriff.

And there were two cars following.

The three pulled up a short distance away. Garcia got in their car and pulled Reid in after her. He groaned in his sleep as they tried to hurry. Dave got back in the front and kept his door open. He rested Chita's shot gun on the edge of the window.

The sheriff had a megaphone. He shouted to them across the space between them.

'You are trespassing on private land. Give yourselves up, or we will open fire.'

'Get down behind the seats.' Dave said. Ana and Garcia obeyed and pulled Reid down with them. The sudden movement woke him up, and he cried out in pain and they bent over him protectively.

'You have to the count of five.' The sheriff said. 'One....... two...... three......'

A shot fired from one of the sheriff's cars ricocheted off the bonnet of Dave's car. He levelled his gun. He hoped that they didn't know he was armed. Another shot, this one shattering the windscreen.

'...four....'

Dave held his breath.

'...five!'

The sheriff's men opened fire. Dave crouched down behind the dash board. He watched the other cars. When one of the men showed a little more of his head than was wise, Dave took it off with one shot. Now they knew he was armed.

There was a volley of shots from the Sheriff. One sent broken glass over Dave, He peered around the door and fired back. He ducked down as a bullet made a hole in the door where he had been seconds before.

Dave waited quietly. He didn't have very much ammunition, just a handful that he had been given with the gun. He couldn't afford to waste any. It seemed like an impasse. Bur he was just one man. There were several of them, and they had as good as unlimited ammo. He waited.

'Give yourself up, and your life will be spared.'

_Fat chance_. Dave thought. _They are ready to kill us 'resisting arrest'. There are no witnesses to the contrary_

'Are you two ok in the back?' he asked.

'I'm ok.' Garcia said, her voice strained but determined.

'Me too.' Ana said.

He had his arms around Garcia, trying to protect her. They were both leaning across Reid.

'Can we give ourselves up?' asked Ana.

'These are the men that shot me and abducted Aaron. They will kill us if we surrender.' Dave said. He raised his head and looked through the broken windscreen. He saw the sheriff lining up for another shot. As he emerged to take the shot, Dave opened fire. The sheriff caught the bullet on his right arm and dropped the gun he was holding. One of his men took a shot at Dave who quickly ducked down again. He leaned his head back on the seat. He thought he was going to throw up. His wound was open again and he could feel the wet of blood on the back of his shirt. He closed his eyes briefly, fighting off the nausea and renewing his determination.

He had to do something. He had to pre-emt his enemy. He had to attack.

He reached across to the ignition, and turned the engine on, at the same time, he pressed down the accelerator, and released the hand brake. The car suddenly burst into life and careered forwards towards the sheriff and his men. As the car shot forward he sat on the seat and fired through the window. The enemy was too concerned with getting out of the way of the car to fire back, and Dave took them out one by one in a shower of bullets. Dave's car hit the sheriff's head on and Dave was thrown through the windscreen and across the bonnet.

Nothing and nobody moved for a few seconds, then there was a low rumbling sound. The air filled with dust and the ground seemed to ripple as the mine opened up beneath the rear wheels of Dave's car and it fell backwards down a newly opened mine shaft.


	11. Out of the Hole

**The Conspiracy  
**Chapter 11  
Out of the Hole

_**My life is important to me, and I have and will entrust it to you. – Aaron Hotchner**_

As the dust settled, Dave painfully twisted in his seat and leaned over the back.

'Take my hand and climb up here.' he said, reaching down for Ana and Garcia

'Reid first.' Garcia said, and she and Ana lifted Reid towards Dave's hands. Trying to be gentle, but realising the danger they were in, Dave quickly pulled the young man up over the seat back and into the front. Reid slumped in the front seat, sweat glistening on his forehead. He groaned as Dave leaned across him and opened the door. He pushed Reid out of the car onto the ground, and turned back to the two people in the back of the car. As he reached for them, the car shifted.

'Quickly, both of you, get up here.' Dave shouted against the sound of falling rocks. Garcia pulled herself over the seat back and through the door next to Reid. Ana followed, and Dave followed Ana. As he fell out into the sun, the car creaked and shifted further into the hole.

Dave leaned against the sheriff's car and looked around at his men. There were things he needed to do, but he wasn't thinking straight.

Garcia took some water from the back of one of the sheriff's cars and gently moistened Reid's dry lips. He opened his mouth slightly and licked the water. Very carefully she poured a little into his mouth and he reached up for the bottle and held it to his lips, and drank gratefully.

'Penelope.' Dave gasped. She left Reid's side.

'Sir?'

'We need to get .....uh....' He leaned forwards with his hand on his forehead.

Garcia tentatively reached out to Dave, touching his elbow.

'Sit down Sir. The emergency rescue services are on their way.' Garcia helped Dave to the front door of the sheriff's car and he sat gratefully in the passenger's seat.

Garcia went back to where she had pulled Reid from the cavern, but the hole she had made was no longer there. She began to pull away at the rocks again, afraid for her three friends who were buried beneath the ground. She felt her fingernails break and her finger tips bleed as she frantically pulled at the ground.

'Hold on....' she said out loud. 'Help is coming......'

-0-0-0-

When the shaft of light had disappeared, there was a crashing sound as more ceilings collapsed in other parts of the tunnel. Morgan didn't know how they were going to get them out. He looked over to where Emily was sitting in the yellow light holding Hotch's hand, gently talking to him. Her dark hair was covered with a layer of dust, as was the man to whom she was talking.

At least the air was more breathable now.

He went and sat by her.

'You ok, Emily?'

'I'm ok. Hotch isn't though.'

'Let me take over for a while.' Morgan said, taking the bulb from her, and squeezing it to inflate Hotch's lungs.

'I can't feel a pulse, Morgan. I think we've lost him.'

Tears cut clean lines through the dirt on her face.

'I'm not giving up, Emily. He once said he would put his life in my hands and trust me with it. I am not going to let him down now.'

Emily sat back on her heels. 'Could be my hand is shaking too much to find a pulse.' she said, touching Hotch's neck with a steadier hand. 'He has a pulse, Morgan.' she said with obvious relief, 'But it's faint and weak.'

Morgan lifted her face towards his. 'We're going to make it, Emily, all three of us.'

She blinked in the fading light of the torch.

-0-0-0-

Garcia waved her hands at the approaching helicopter, pointing away from where she knew the ground was weak. The chopper set down about a hundred yards away, and four men wearing hard hats got down off it. They unloaded digging equipment from the back, and wheeled it over to where Garcia and Ana were waiting with Dave.

'We are not going to be able to dig here.' one of them told Dave. 'We will dig a hole parallel to the shaft, and dig across. It will be safer to do it like that. We don't want to risk a further cave in.'

'One of the trapped men is seriously wounded.' Dave said. 'For god's sake, hurry.'

The four men set up the digging equipment a few yards away from the group. Garcia and Ana carefully lifted Reid into the back of the Sheriff's car. He opened his eyes as they laid him down. He took Garcia's hand.

'Hotch?' It was barely more than an exhalation, but the strength of his grip on Garcia's hand surprised her.

'They are getting him out now, Spencer.' she said. The sound of the digging split the air, and a plume of dust rose from the desert floor.

Reid's eyes were filled with tears. 'This is all m-my f-fault.' he stammered softly. 'I am s-so s-sorry.'

'Save your strength, Spencer.' she said. 'They are getting the others out. Don't fret.'

Reid blinked back the tears, but he didn't say anything more. In the distance, they could hear another helicopter and Garcia hoped it was the ambulance. As it got closer, Garcia got out of the car and looked into the sky. The silver of the helicopter stood out against the deep blue of the cloudless sky. She watched as it came to rest next to the rescue helicopter. Garcia ran across the space between them to meet the paramedics who alighted the helicopter.

'We have managed to get one victim from the mine.' she told them, leading them over to the car where Reid was lying. 'He's got a gunshot wound to the chest, a through and through, a broken arm, and he is dehydrated. I've given him some water.'

Two of the medics got into the car and began to work on Reid. The first thing they did was put in a wide bore IV to get fluids into his body as soon as they could. They splinted his broken arm, and checked his pupil responses.

'What's your name?' on asked as she shone a pen light into his eyes.

'Sp-pencer Reid.' he answered.

'Well, Spencer, you don't need to worry anymore, you are going to be ok now.'

'Hotch – help Hotch ......first.....'

The medic turned to Garcia who was standing outside the car.

'Who is Hotch?' she asked.

'We haven't got him out yet.' Garcia said. 'But David Rossi in the front seat needs you too.'

Dave was still in the front seat of the car. He had fainted with the exertion, and was lying sideways across the two front seats. One of the medics went to the front and checked him over.

'His vitals are all ok, except his pulse is a little fast. We will need bloods to check for infection, but he needs to have an IV set up now.'

Quickly and skilfully the medic put an IV into Dave's arm ready for the antibiotics that would probably be needed later. 'Whoever treated him for this gunshot wound did a good job, but he should have been in hospital long ago.'

'We couldn't take him to hospital, it would have been too dangerous.' Ana said. 'It was my Mum who treated him.'

'She did good.'

Ana smiled for the first time in days.

-0-0-0-

'I really can't find a pulse now.' Emily said.

Morgan used a free hand to touch Hotch's neck.

'Nor can I.' he said. 'Start CPR.'

Emily knelt across the still body of her boss without putting weight on his hips, careful not to touch the spike that was through his body, she pressed down on his chest.

'Come on, Hotch......'

They could hear a loud sound and a vibrating, as the rescuers dug down towards them, causing more dust and small rocks to come falling around them. Emily leaned forwards and protected Hotch from the most of it, while Morgan continued ventilating him.

_Come on, Hotch, don't give up now...._

'I think they are digging down to us.' Morgan said. 'That's what the noise is.'

He was having to shout over the sound, and he prayed that it wouldn't set off another cave in. The light of Morgan's torch was failing, and Emily continued administering CPR in the failing torch light.

'Morgan,' she said between chest compressions. 'Are we going to get out of here?'

'I hope so, Emily. I want all three of us to make it out of here. Now they are digging down to us, it shouldn't be too long. We just have to keep Hotch alive until they get to us.'

She tucked her dirty hair behind her ears as Morgan inflated Hotch's lungs.

'Come on, Hotch, don't give up now.' she said to the figure lying in front of her, unaware that she was echoing Morgan's thoughts word for word.

She felt a movement under her hands, as if in response to her plea.

'He moved!' she said excitedly. 'I'm sure he moved.'

'I think he did. Check his pulse.' Morgan said, shouting over the approaching sound of the digging. More dirt and stones fell, and together they leaned across, protecting Hotch from the worst of the fall.

'They are almost here.' he said. 'Hold on just a little longer.'

It was at that moment that a new beam of light cut through into their prison, lighting up the dust in the air in a yellow cone.

'Hello, can anybody hear us?'

'Yes! Yes! We are here!' Emily cried.

They looked in the direction of the voice, and were dazzled by two strong lights moving towards them along the tunnel.

'OK, please let us see what we have.' the medic said. Morgan moved back, and Emily stepped away. Now that Hotch had a pulse, her chest compressions were no longer necessary.

'We need to cut him off this spike.' he said. 'We need to turn him without pulling on it. On three.... one.... two.... three..... turn.'

Morgan and the other medic, turned Hotch onto his side, and a set of bolt cutters were applied to the base of the metal spike that had impaled Hotch. As soon as it was cut, the broken pieces of the stretcher were shoved aside, and a new one placed beneath him.

'Now, on three, lay him back down. One.... two.... three.... now.'

The movement had started the puncture site to bleed again, Emily reached for Hotch's hand. She understood that he was deeply unconscious, but just in case she wanted him to know that they were there, and were not going to leave him. He didn't respond to her touch.

'We are going to have to get him up the shaft we dug vertically. We will need to strap him down onto the stretcher so that he won't move.'

While he was saying this, the medic had placed a restraint around Hotch's head and neck, and the other was strapping him onto the stretcher.

'Ok let's get him out of here before the tunnel collapses.'

The two medics picked up the stretcher upon which Hotch was strapped, and carried him the few feet to the newly dug shaft. There were ropes hanging down the side, and they attached the ropes to the head of the stretcher.

'Ok, we're ready here!' one of them called, and the rope was pulled up from the top. Slowly, Hotch was drawn vertically, and with the help of the two medics holding him steady, he was pulled up the shaft to safety.

Emily and Morgan watched to procedure with a mixture of hope and relief. As soon as Hotch was out of sight, a ladder was dropped down, and Emily, Morgan, and the two medics climbed out into the sunshine.

-0-0-0-

Garcia had been pacing the desert floor. They had taken Reid and he was now in the helicopter, ready for take off. He was being administered glucose and painkillers by drip, and his heart beat and respiration was good. Because he had been starved, his potassium level was high, so there was saline in the IV in his arm.

He was always thin, but he was emaciated now. It had been over a week now and all he had eaten was some bread the day before when Hotch had been chained up with him. He was beginning to come round, and Garcia wanted to be in the helicopter with him.

'You can sit with him for now.' the medic had told her. 'But you won't be able to fly out with him, because there won't be space in the helicopter with both casualties.'

Garcia was sitting with Reid, talking to him, when Hotch was pulled out of the hole. She stared across in horror.

Hotch was covered with dirt and blood. What she could see of his skin was bruised and cut. There was the spike through his abdomen, and it was glistening in the sun.

There was so much blood. She felt tears of fear pricking the backs of her eyes. One of his hands had slipped from the straps holding him. Even his fingers were broken.

She jumped down from the helicopter as Emily emerged from the hole.

'Is he going to survive?' she heard Emily ask the medic who was checking Hotch.

'He's a strong man, and he's in the best hands.' was the answer she was given.

Garcia watched as a heart monitor was attached to his chest, and his throat tube attached to a ventilator.

They carried him to the helicopter and slid the stretcher in next to Reid.

_Ok, Hotch, Reid, it's up to you now........._


	12. Fight for Life

**The Conspiracy  
**Chapter 12  
Fight for Life

"_**There are four questions of value in life... What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for, and what is worth **__**dying**__** for? The answer to each is the same. Only love.**__**" **_

_**Don Juan deMarco (1995)**_

_**Johnny Depp **_

Hotch and Reid were in the air ambulance, and Dave was sitting between them. He was awake, but the medics thought he had an infection. He refused treatment though all the time his colleagues needed the medics.

Morgan winced as his head wound was checked. He had almost forgotten that he had been hurt in the cave in.

The sheriff had an upper arm gunshot wound, and was being checked over, but Emily stood by him with her gun trained on him. This man had a lot to answer for, and with his co conspirators dead, he was going to have to take the rap all by himself.

The medic said he would like to immobilise the arm, but Emily said no. She wrenched the arm behind him making sure that it hurt, and cuffed him.

The only vehicle still available and capable of being driven was Ana's truck. Emily asked Garcia if she would mind driving it. With the gun in his back, the sheriff climbed onto the bed of the truck, and Emily attached the cuffs to the side of the bed. Garcia and Emily got into the truck, Morgan and Ana sat in the back with the sheriff.

'You are going to hear about this!' he said angrily. 'You Feds think that you can come here to our little town and take over....'

'Shut up.' Morgan said, and to emphasise his words, he waved his gun in the sheriff's face. He felt a satisfied smile flicker across his face as the man grimaced when his arm started to bleed through the bandages.

The sheriff spent the journey in silence, apart from the occasional yelp as the truck bounced over the rough ground.

They stopped by Morgan's car and he and Ana got off the flatbed of the truck to drive it back to Chita's farm.

Both helicopters were in the air, the digging equipment having been loaded back onto the rescue helicopter. As the truck followed in the same direction, all three agents were wondering about their colleagues being rushed to the hospital.

-0-0-0-

Chita was waiting at the door for news on her son, watched the approaching car with trepidation. When she saw her son in the car she ran to meet it, throwing her arms around him before he could even get out of the car. The truck pulled up next to the car, Chita went cold when she saw the sheriff in the back of the truck.

'He won't be hurting any more families.' Morgan said with a smile.

'What about those who have already gone?' Chita asked, thinking of her own little girl.

'We will be searching the sheriff's house for records of the adoptions, and if they are not legal, which is likely, you will probably get your children back.'

A surge of hope washed over Chita as she thought of bringing her own child home. She hugged Ana.

Two helicopters flew overhead. Morgan looked up at them, and hoped that the three agents that were on them were going to survive their ordeal.

-0-0-0-

Dave woke up as the helicopter lifted off the desert floor. He groaned as the pain asserted itself, and leaned back in his seat with tightly closed eyes. On either side of him were Aaron and Reid, both being worked on by a small team of medics. Reid was stable for the moment; the biggest fear was the high potassium that was interfering with neurological responses. His heart was beating regularly but weakly, and the paddles were ready in case they were needed.

Aaron on the other hand was fighting for his life. The impalement had caused acute peritonitis, and the broad spectrum antibiotics that were being pumped into him were gradually being sent around his battered body. There was severe blood loss from the wound and the gunshot in almost the same place. There was a bullet lodged somewhere in his pelvis, and that had still not been located. He was beaten and had several broken bones, including some broken and cracked ribs. It was touch and go, and the sooner he was in theatre, the better his chances were.

The two helicopters went separate ways and the ambulance flew directly to the nearest hospital. The helicopter touched down and a team of doctors were waiting on the roof for their new patients to be handed over to them. They ran forwards to collect the three agents, and the two gurneys were passed out to them. Dave stood by the door, waiting for his friends to be taken out ahead of him. He walked shakily with a doctor after the two unconscious men

-0-0-0-

The bullet in Hotch was vital evidence. The dead UnSubs that had attacked the rescue mission each were carrying guns, and the one that matched the bullet taken from Hotch would identify the shooter. Hotch had smashed pelvic bones and untold tissue damage, and the doctors working on him were afraid that the septicaemia that was setting in would kill him.

Letting him die on the table was not an option.

In an OR along the corridor, Reid was in his own battle. His emaciated and dehydrated body was almost beyond the fight. They repaired the hole in his chest and replaced the IV which was feeding him saline and glucose. But the rest would take time to heal, his strength to return. There was a chance, although slim, that he would suffer brain damage to some extent. That too would take time to know.

'How could this have happened?' an OR nurse said to a colleague, as Reid was wheeled into recovery. 'All those children, and now this!'

'Money.' she answered. 'The papers said it was all for money.'

-0-0-0-

Morgan and a team of cops from the nearest town were searching the now ex-sheriff's house. There were extensive records, but they had been hidden under a false floor in a wardrobe. All the transactions were illegal, and the children identifiable. They would all be deported as illegals, but it was up to the Mexican government whether they would be returned to the natural parents, as with the stolen children, or put up for adoption in their own culture.

The cops and a group of social workers were to stay in the village and sort the mess out. Morgan wished he could stay too. He hated it when children were being hurt.

-0-0-0-

At last the doctors were able to persuade Dave to get treatment. The area around the wound was red and hot, and Dave was sweating and pale. He lay down with some relief on the bed and the wound was examined. He too needed broad spectrum antibiotics to fight the infection, but the wound itself had been treated well, and there should be no lasting damage.

In the next cubicle, the sheriff was being treated, and none too gently. Dave smiled to himself. It wasn't just the judicial system the man had to face alone. Kidnapping, murder, and attempted murder carried a high penalty, especially for those who were supposed to uphold the law, not break it for their own uses.

'The other two agents, are they out of the theatre yet?'

'Hold on, and I'll see if there's any news.' the nurse said, and disappeared around the curtain.

Dave Exhaled heavily. He needed justice to be served, but if any of his team mates died, justice would never be done. He stared at the ceiling and waited.

A minute or so later the nurse returned. Reid was in recovery. He would be going into intensive care. Hotchner was still in surgery. It was touch and go whether he would survive, and even if he did, it was doubtful he would be able to walk without intensive physiotherapy.

Dave felt tears in his eyes and the nurse sat beside him and held his hand.

'He is in the best possible place.' she said, but really there were no words that would help. All Dave wanted to see was his two colleagues walk into his room.

He closed his eyes to stop the tears. He thought back to the trap that they had walked into in the desert, and he felt again the bullet hit him and the ground disappear beneath him. That was when it had all gone wrong.

He turned onto his side and clutched at the pillow and prayed. The nurse kept hold of him.

-0-0-0-

Reid's eyes flickered open.

'Welcome back, Spencer.' a sweet voice said. Reid focused his eyes on the nurse who was looking down at him.

'Uhh.' said Spencer.

'Don't try to talk. You have had a tube down your throat. It will hurt for a little while.'

She turned to go, and felt a hand grab at her arm.

'What is it, Spencer?' she said gently.

'Hotch.' he croaked.

'The other man who came in with you?' she asked. 'I will go and see if there is any news.'

-0-0-0-

There wasn't. Hotch's heart had fibrillated twice so far, and at that moment, keeping his heart beating was more important than anything else. The priority had been to stop the bleeding and increase the depleted blood volume. They were still battling this as he arrested the third time.

The paddles were charged and clear was called. It took two surges of electricity to start his heart this time. The surgeons were worried as they continued to try to save him.

It was going to be a long night.

-0-0-0-

Morgan collected Garcia and Emily from the hotel and together they went to the hospital. They both felt the same fear – that they could have lost their friends – members of the new family that they had forged under terrible conditions. Afraid of what the answer would be, they asked after them at the reception.

'Let's see.' the receptionist said as if there was no hurry. 'Spencer Reid has just gone up to Intensive care. David Rossi is in Medical One, and ...... who was the other patient?'

'Aaron Hotchner.' Garcia said.

'Aaron...... Hotchner....' she said, typing the name into her terminal. 'Are you relatives?'

'Yes.' Morgan said challengingly.

The receptionist was about to say something, and at the look on Morgan's face, thought better of it.

'Come this way, please, and I will have someone come down to talk to you.'

The three were led to a comfortable sitting room labelled "Relative's Room."

_Oh god oh god oh god........._

The three of them sat on a couch holding hands, gaining strength from each other.

'Are you related to Mr. Hotchner?' the doctor who entered said suspiciously.

Emily stood up. 'We are the closest he has.'

'What news is there?' Morgan asked.

The doctor sat opposite the three agents. 'He is still in theatre. He is very poorly, and it is a fight. Please, be prepared for the worst.'

Emily and Garcia began to cry. This whole thing was not even a case; it was people looking out for the ones they cared about.

'I am so sorry.'

A single tear ran down Morgan's cheek.

-0-0-0-

'I need to go and see Dave and Spencer, but I'm afraid to leave here.' Emily said.

'I know.' Morgan answered her. 'Do you two want to go and I'll stay here for news.'

'We can all go. I'll let reception know where we are.' Garcia left and went to tell the woman at reception that they were going to Medical One to see Dave.

The three of them took the stairs. They needed time to collect themselves and stop crying. It wouldn't help Dave if they were crying.

As it happened, it wouldn't have mattered as Dave knew. He smiled weakly when they entered his room. The nurse who had been sitting with him left them to talk.

'It's Hotch, isn't it?' Dave said when he saw their ill hidden red eyes.

'It's bad for him.' Morgan said. 'We could lose him.'

'He's strong, Derek. He'll make it.' Dave bit his lip. He had to make it.

Dave was a solitary man. Married three times, and single again, building bridges if friendship was not something that came easily for him. Team work was difficult for him, but he had found a friend in Hotch where no bridges were necessary. If Hotch died, then part of him would die too.

The door opened, and a doctor came in.

'Are you here for Mr Hotchner?'

Four pairs of eyes bored into him through a mist of tears.

Morgan nodded. 'Is he.......?'

'He's out of surgery. He should make it.'

-0-0-0-

With Dave in a wheelchair, thanks to the reluctant doctor, the four went to see Reid to tell him the good news. But they didn't need to. Reid was in a small side ward, and Hotch was in the bed beside him. When they entered, Reid was lying on his side watching Hotch breathe. He turned at the sound of them entering.

'He's going to make it.' Reid whispered hoarsely. Garcia sat next to him and rested her hand on his.

'You are all going to make it.' she said.

'This whole thing is my fault, going out after Adam without telling Hotch the details....' Reid looked as if he was going to cry.

Garcia brushed his hair from his face. 'The killers are either dead or arrested. It's their fault not yours.' she said, touching his tears with her finger.

Reid smiled a shaky smile and turned to Hotch again.

'He's very special to me.' Reid said

Emily was by Hotch. 'He's waking up' she said.

Hotch's eyes opened slowly, dark and beautiful. Emily laughed.

'Welcome home, Sir.'

Dave was at his other side.

'Aaron....'

'Dave.... I thought you died.' Speaking was difficult for Hotch, but the shock and joy on his face was effervescent.

'We all made it, Hotch.' Reid said.

The room fell silent.

_**END**_


End file.
